Heritage
by Queen Of Gabb 488
Summary: The arrival of three strangers brings the residents of Mystic Falls back together after ten years as they try to discover what they want. Hidden ties bind them together in unexpected ways that have heartbreaking consequences and threaten to tear these friends and couples apart. Destiny has a way of getting what it wants; revealing family secrets and possible salvation.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **okay, so this is totally a cross over...I know...why didn't I put it in the cross over section? Well, I fell like a lot of great stories get lost there and I really want for you guys to be able to find this and hopefully love it. It takes place in 2023 and involves the next generation of Halliwells as well as all of our favorite vampires. Please read and review. Constructive criticism is welcomed.

* * *

"Family field trip, here we come," the sarcasm rolled off of Prudence's tongue. She had wanted to spend the summer back packing through Europe and having new experiences but her mother had another idea. "'_Road trip across the states,' _she said; '_explore your family history,'_ she said," slamming the door shut to the luxury SUV.

"_Quit your bitching, _I say," her cousin Phylicia mocked her little outburst. "I mean, I know it's not what you wanted but we _are_ nearly three thousand miles from home. I think that's plenty distance between you, your parents and sisters," Phyl pointed out.

"Seriously," Payton interjected, slamming the driver side door. "Besides, there'll always be time for Europe and it's only a transcontinental teleportation away. Besides, we're only teens; did you really think our moms were going to let us go anywhere without some kind of supernatural lo-jack to keep track of us," Paige's daughter griped. "Get a clue," she opened the trunk and the girls started removing their luggage. They were finally on the east coast and Payton was glad to have a normal human experience. Her siblings and cousins took their magic for granted while she loved to do things the regular, old fashioned way. It came in handy whenever something interfered with their powers and it gave her a sense of independence.

Walking into the lobby, the girls checked into their hotel which Phoebe had generously paid for and headed up to their suite. Prudence heaved her bag onto her bed, grateful that her mom had sprung for the suite and allowing each of the girls to have their own bed. Opening her suitcase, she took out her toiletries and headed for the bathroom determined the freshen up after the four hours they spent on the road that morning. She had been traveling with the twins for nearly two weeks, stopping along the way to take in the tourist traps along the way. At sixteen years old, she was already itching to get out of her house and head to college or anywhere that put a lot of space between her and her family; not that it would stop them from popping up whenever they wanted but the young witch could always put a privacy ward up wherever she lived.

Brushing her teeth and touching up her makeup, she threw her makeup bag back into her suitcase and put her long mahogany hair up in a high pony, letting it trail between her shoulder blades down to the middle of her back. Unbuttoning her plaid shirt, she replaced it with a plain white tank top to go with her dark denim shorts. Apparently Virginia also suffered heatwaves in the middle of summer. "So, what's the plan? Now that we're here we need to get started on our little family mission 'cause you know if we don't bring back some proof our mom's are going to kill us. I'd like to live long enough to get out of the house," she shared.

Phyl looked to her twin sister, shrugging as if to say 'here you go' and Payton pulled out her iPhone _XXV, _pulling up a holographic itinerary. "Visit university of Richmond to look up old records," Siri recited. "Look up Warren family tree and property records-" Payton discontinued Siri's services. "We're also going to visit several of mom's contacts here and take some lessons in herbs, homeopathy, and different kinds of tradition. I'm actually really excited for when we hit Louisiana. I know we try to stay away from the dark stuff but I think it's better to know it and not need it then the other way around."

"Okay," Phyl drawled out, "but what are our plans for today? Are we hanging out here or are we going to go visit the campus, or what?"

"I say we hit the campus," Prudence put her two cents in. "The sooner we find something out the sooner we can go explore and have fun. Besides, I don't even really understand the whole point of this. We know our family history, why do we have to dig more up?"

"Come on, Denny," Phyl begged, "try and have some fun with this. Otherwise I'm gonna lock you in a suitcase and orb you back home gagged and bound. The aunts are all home and we're on the east coast. Alone," she pointed out, "with _boys."_

Pursing her lips, Prudence playfully pondered her cousins request. "Fine," she threw a pillow in her face, "but only because of the boys."

Sighing, Payton grabbed her purse and keys. "Great. Something else to worry about," the seventeen year old lead the way out.

* * *

Caroline was in her seventh year of study at the University of Richmond, earning her Ph.D in Museum studies/ancient cultures and civilizations. She had taken a two year break in between her masters and doctoral programs to gain real world experience and to travel; a much needed break away from the stacks where she was currently researching her own hometown of Mystic Falls as a part of her dissertation. Elena had been kind enough to give her all of Isobel's notes and the Gilbert family journals that had been hidden away at her vacation home. The chatter of two -no make that three- somewhat distinct voices entering the huge library disturbed her from her task all the way across the room. Opening her senses, she used her vampire hearing to tune into the discussion.

"Where do you think the research librarian is," Phylicia whispered; not her strong suit.

Groaning, Caroline marked the pages she needed and made her way back to her desk. Technically she was supposed to be working but it was the middle of summer and there weren't that many students left on campus. It was a great time to get ahead on her work and getting paid at the same time was a huge bonus.

Putting on her biggest smile, she approached the girls and realized that two of them were identical, explaining why she had thought there were only two of them at first. "I'm Caroline," she introduced herself. "I'm the research librarian here. Can I help you with anything?"

"Yeah," Payton stepped forward. "We wanted to look into old records and do a little genealogy report on our family. According to family lore we had an ancestor who originally lived in Virginia before moving to Salem."

"Salem," Caroline giggle while looking between each of the girls. "What an interesting family legacy to have; such an interesting period during our history, what with the rich mythology and tragic circumstances. I can help you with several things," the blonde informed them, "internet searches to see if the documents you are looking for are archived so we can compile a family tree for you, as well as a search for any particular ancestor you might know of and old property deeds and journals from that time. If you know the family name used back then we can look through the journals for any mention and you can scan the journals to have copies of."

"That sounds great," Payton let out a huge breath. "To be honest, this little history project was the price of being allowed to road trip by ourselves. Our mothers way of keeping us out of trouble."

"Oh, where do you guys come from," Caroline asked.

"San Francisco," Phyl answered. "Payton and I -my name's Phyl by the way- go to UCLA and Berkeley, and we thought we'd come check out colleges with our cousin."

"I'm Denny, by the way," she shook Caroline's hand.

"It's great to meet you and I'm excited to help. I'm a grad student studying ancient cultures and civilizations and one of the areas I love to research is the history of Virginia. Why don't we head back to the stacks and I can pull some books for you before doing those searches," she lead the way, pulling her phone out and mass texting her friends.

_Sighting= witches, _she typed and continued to their destination.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: ** Please read and **review**. Constructive criticism is welcomed. Alexandra Chando is the actress I perceive Prudence to look like, and the twins are portrayed by Emma Watson.

* * *

Elena was lying in bed, a huge smile on her face as she turned to lay on top of Damon. She had been afraid that forever wasn't possible and maybe it wasn't, but getting there sure had been fun and Damon always kept things interesting. He had surprised her this morning with breakfast in bed, cancelling meetings with his accountant and investment manager to celebrate their anniversary.

Ten years had passed by in the blink of an eye as they went everywhere and anywhere. At first they had stayed in Virginia so that she could go to college with Caroline and Matt where she majored in English and began writing short stories. Of course, her short stories focused on the lives of a small town that appeared deceivingly normal but had a dark shadow lurking, waiting to destroy the lives of a group of friends as they navigated relationships and high school. Now able to look back at her life without the fear and heartache that seemed to make up every second of her life during that time, Elena was using her life experiences to follow her dreams and was set to release a series of novels based off of her journals. They would be called the Vampire Diaries and she had already received a large advance from the publishing company.

Her phone buzzed and she read the text, immediately sitting up and flashing across the room before reappearing in front of Damon; waking him up and throwing clothes at him. "Come on," she urged before speeding over to the door.

"Where are we going," he pouted at being disturbed and began buttoning his shirt.

"Mystic Falls. Get dressed, I'll go start the car," Elena said grabbing the keys to Damon's baby before he could protest.

* * *

Prudence turned to her cousins the second Caroline left to run those searches for them. "Something seems off about little Ms. Perky over there. Do you think she's a demon?"

"Why is everyone a demon to you," Phyl put the journal she was reading down. "You thought the mail carrier was a demon."

"In her defense, she was," Payton argued. "Let's just get what we came for and go. If we need to we can put her down but if she's just Malibu Barbie then we leave later and everything's cool. There's no need borrowing trouble," and went back to her reading when she noticed Caroline coming back.

"Okay, so I ran the names you gave me and looked up Charlotte and Melinda Warren and I got a number of results," the vampire told them. "Charlotte Warren came up as being the wife and widow of Lawrence Cutler, one of the original settlers of the colony of Virginia. I have some print outs for you," she handed them a folder and watched them study the information. "Charlotte unfortunately was widowed during her pregnancy and bore her child on All Hallows Eve." Smiling, Caroline reached over to pull a copy of a journal entry from the folder.

"It's such a unique coincidence that her daughter was born on that day and was also one of the innocent victims of the Salem Witch Trials," Caroline spoke, unaware of the smirks gracing the Halliwell faces. "It seems your ancestor Melinda moved to Massachusetts after the death of her husband William, taking their daughter Prudence with them," she looked up and gave them a genuine smile. "It seems Prudence is a popular name among your family. I have a semi-complete family tree for you, though of course some of the records of your relatives have been lost over the years due to error in past census information. Can I just say, I love your mother's work," she told Denny. "Her column and her books are so amazing. "

"Thanks," Denny said. "My mom always likes to hear from her fans."

"Anyway," the blonde continued, "I have old property deeds and I've found your families original lands, as well as their grave sites. I printed out the locations for Massachusetts as well."

"Wow, that was fast," Phyl grinned. "We might have more time for fun then we thought."

"Hm," Denny nodded, "but we'd better not give the family all of the information at once. Knowing my mom she'll want us to come home sooner if she knows how much free time we're going t have."

"So, where to next," Payton asked Caroline.

"Well, Charlotte's burial site and town she lived in is a town called Mystic Falls. It's a couple of hours away."

"What do you guys think? You want to wait until tomorrow or do you want to try and get out there tonight," Payton asked.

"I'm way too tired to go anywhere tonight. I say we go to the hotel spa and rack up my mom's credit card bill," Denny offered.

"Well, I wrote down all of the information you need to find the sites but I'm actually from Mystic Falls. It's summer and I don't have anything to do on campus tomorrow; do you guys want a tour guide?"

"That would be great," Payton said. "What time should we meet you?"

"Meet me in the town square at one. If you want we can do lunch at Mystic Grill before we go exploring the town."

* * *

"But Mystic falls wasn't founded 'officially' until the late 1800s," Jeremy reminded his sister and their friends. Jeremy, Elena, Damon, Matt and Caroline sat in the Grill sharing a meal as Caroline told them about the research she had done earlier that day. They were still waiting to see what happened before calling Stefan for help.

"Yes, but we all know that there were settlers long before that," Elena pointed out. "I just wish we had Bonnie here to help us," the doppelganger stared off as she thought about her lost friend. Caroline reached over and grabbed her hand.

"So where exactly is this family homestead you're showing them," Damon asked.

"Actually," Caroline grinned, "It's the old witch house where you hid the coffins from Klaus," enjoying the look that graced his face. She still enjoyed torturing him although they had become more understanding of each other in the past ten years. "I already went over to the library here and did a little research but what I would really like is another witch to feel them out. I don't want to confront them if I don't have too, _although_ they are just teenagers. I mean, the twins are only eighteen and the younger girl is sixteen. It's not like they're Bennett witches," she joked, unaware of just how much she was underestimating them.

* * *

"So what do you think; demon, yea or nay?" Denny pulled up plaid pajama shorts and slipped under the covers.

"Nay," Payton and Phyl replied before calling jinx. "Haha," Phyl laughed at her twin. "Now you have to wait for one of us to say your name before you can speak."

Payton turned to Denny who pulled the covers over her face much to Phylicia's delight, only to get a book thrown at her.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: ** Please **review**. Constructive criticism is welcomed. I want to hear from you guys, with what you do and don't like; if you want to see something happen or just to know you like the story.

* * *

Pulling into the square, Prudence slammed the driver side door and walked around to join her cousins. Mystic Falls was certainly a beautiful town with historic roots. Climbing up onto the sidewalk, the three walked side by side passing unfamiliar faces as they made their way to Mystic Grill. The door chimed as they made their way through the darkly lit room and saw Caroline waving at them from a booth.

Sitting, a tall blond came over with their menus and took their drink orders. "Thanks Matt," Caroline said and turned her attention to the Halliwells. "We can order first and then talk about what I have planned."

"Anything particularly good," Phyl asked with the menu spread out for her and Payton to look at.

"You can never go wrong with their burgers and steak fries," Caroline said and Matt came back with their drinks and took their orders. While they waited for their food the blonde tour guide filled them in on what they would be doing. "I thought I could show you around the square and go over the settling of Mystic Falls before heading out to some of the old plantations and your old family homestead."

"Sounds like a plan," Payton smiled. "It's such a cute little town. It's got that scenic attribute to it that you can't really get in the city."

"You guys are from San Francisco, right? How is it to live out in California? I've always wanted to go," the vampire inquired.

"It's great," Phyl jumped in. "We live in a historic area and pretty much all of the houses are old Victorian Manors. Actually, our house is kind of famous there because of the architecture. See, it was rebuilt after the earthquake of 1901 and we've had professors do papers on it. The Manor has been passed down through the generations and right now our Aunt Piper lives there with her husband and our cousins. After my parents got pregnant with us," she pointed between herself and her twin, "they bought the Manor next door and Denny's mom lives across the street."

"So you guys got to grow up close to one another," Caroline sighed wistfully. "I wish I had that kind of life. Unfortunately I suffer from 'Only Child Syndrome' which is characterized by chronic loneliness. It sounds like there are a lot of you too," she said and smiled at Matt as he brought out there food.

"Nine of us plus all the Aunts and Uncles," Denny finally tuned into the conversation before taking a bite out of her burger. They continued to talk as they ate, glad to have some food in them before starting the exploration.

* * *

Matt headed back to the bar where Jeremy was. The only two humans left in their group, they had bought the grill when the old owner retired a couple of years back making it possible for them to keep their prospective households, not they would ever want for anything. Their friendly gang of vampires had made sure that the two young men would be taken care of.

"Well," Jeremy washed glasses, "if they're witches they don't seem to bee too much trouble. Still, I hope Caroline isn't putting herself in a position to get hurt. I definitely don't want Klaus finding out that witches have returned to Mystic Falls."

"Don't make it sound like they're here to stay, man. Look at them, they're babies and from what Caroline said they're only here for the summer and then it will be back to California. Besides, Klaus hasn't been here in almost five years. Who's going to pick up the phone and tell him that someone is here breaking his rules?"

"I still can't believe he enforced those rules of Marcel's. You would think after he helped the witches in New Orleans that he would start acting like a decent human being."

"Well, you know Klaus. The only witches he wants near his homes are the ones he keeps on payroll," Matt rebutted. "Rebekah pretty much told me that after he helped NOLA he forced the witches into servitude. The guy will do anything to protect what he thinks is his."

"How_ is_ Rebekah," Jeremy grinned and watch his friend turn red. After spending the summer in Europe together the two had a new found respect for each other but they had never spoken of what happened on their adventures. Matt had dated on and off during the past decade, even getting engaged once before calling it off. He still spoke to Rebekah every couple of months and even exchanged letters; still, he never let that particular secret past his lips.

"Shut up," Matt threw a towel at Jeremy before heading for the office, leaving his partner laughing while he served their customers.

* * *

"Mystic Falls was founded in 1859 by the founding families; the Fells, Forbes, Gilberts, Lockwoods, and the Salvatores. Of course, others occupied the town long before it was settled including your ancestors," Caroline spoke as they walked. "Most of the buildings on Main street are original to the town like the Police Station and the Clock tower; because it is a historic town we allow new buildings to go up on new plots of land, but we don't like to tear down originals. Most of these buildings are official town landmarks because they are over a hundred years old, which prevents changing their structure too much.

Moving on, Caroline described a lot of the towns efforts to honor their history with events like the Ms. Mystic Falls pagaent, decade dances at the high school, the Founders day parade and party, and numerous fundraisers to raise money to preserve the woods and old plantations lying outside of the residential areas. "If you guys want, we can take my car out to see Charlotte Warren's old homestead."

"That would be great," the girls agreed and followed her to her car.

* * *

Caroline continued to talk while they were in the car, unaware of the cousins communicating with one another. Phyl pushed her way into Payton's and Denny's consciousness. "_Are we all agreed that everything is on the up and up here?"_

_"Sure," _Denny oozed sarcasm, "_because evil is incapable of making clever maneuvers in their effort to destroy good."_

_"That's not what she meant and you know it," _Payton responded. "_I know you have an off feeling about her but never once did you describe it as dark or evil, so can we just give her the benefit of the doubt?" _

_"Sure, as she lures us to an undisclosed location with no way to leave," _Prudence pointed out.

_"As if we don't have any method of leaving a dangerous situation," _Phyl snapped back_. _

_"She doesn't know that," _the teen pointed out.

"_Well if she really does mean us harm then she's going to be the one in for a surprise," _Payton reassured them.

* * *

Elena and Damon waited outside as they watched Caroline drive up with the strangers. They wanted to be close by in case Care needed their help, but had hesitated to go inside since the spirits still didn't seem to like Damon.

They watched as the group sauntered into the old house, hearing Caroline continue to go on with the tour guide farce. There was no way they were the descendants of Salem witches as well as one of the original settlers of Mystic Falls without some kind of knowledge of their ancestry. It made their being here even more suspicious.


	4. Chapter 4

They pulled up on a dirt road to a large, dilapidated mansion with distressed white paint and falling shutters. The girls followed Caroline, Phylicia pausing momentarily to look over her shoulders straight toward the clearing. Damon pulled Elena to him and they watched as the teenager turned back to the group and entered the house.

"Do you think she saw us," Elena asked.

"No, but that doesn't mean she doesn't know we're here," he squinted his eyes and cast out his senses. "Can you hear them?"

Elena opened up her ears to hear what was going on inside the house.

* * *

The moment the girls were inside the house they felt an almost tangible connection to the building. The calls started out as whispers, gradually increasing in volume as they ventured deeper into the home. The cousins shared a glance. "_I hear it too,"_ Denny shared with her cousins.

Caroline was pleasantly surprised when there was no agonizing pain. Apparently the witches were okay with her being there or she would know differently. Before Damon had made it his mission to bring down Klaus the spirits had rejected him from this space, something of a holy site as it was the location where a hundred witches had been burned at the stake. Watching the girls, she looked for any signs that they were actually witches but they were acting completely normal as they moved from room to room, asking questions about the house.

Denny stood behind Caroline and threw her hands up while the blonde still had her back turned to her. "Okay," the teen witch said when the blonde froze, "anybody have any idea what's going on here? This place is packing some serious mojo."

"There are a lot of spirits here," Phyl responded. "And they're all talking at the same time. It's hard to differentiate between them."

"Have you gotten any premonitions off the place," her twin asked.

"I haven't really tried, all though I definitely got a weird feeling outside; it was like we were being watched." Moving over to an old oil lamp she place a hand on it and called up a premonition.

A hauntingly beautiful man with pitch black hair and crystal blue eyes stood in the house with another man with dirty blond hair and strong jawline. _** "Alright, Klaus has 6 siblings. Rebekah is now with Klaus. There was one dead kid in the old world, one dead kid in the new world, which leaves Elijah and two others. Three sleeping originals, four coffins. So who is in the locked box?"**_

**_"No idea. But whatever is in here, Bonnie seems to think that it will help us kill Klaus. So the sooner she can get this open, the sooner we will know if she's right," the James Dean knockoff replied._**

**_"Oh, you'd think spirits from a band of dead witches that can make the coffins invisible would have figured out how to open one. Fine, don't help," he bit at spirits he couldn't see._**

**_"You know that none of this is gonna do any good if Klaus's hybrid friend find our hiding place, right? They need to go away."_**

**_"Oh yeah, great idea Stefan. Why don't you ask them just to pack their bag and take a long rest while we are on it. How about to keep the peace? Don't attend to the real thing we are trying to hide," his words dripping with sarcasm._**

**_"Well I'm not gonna play defense when I have what Klaus wants. He does what I say or I drop his family to the bottom of the ocean."_**

**_"And he kills you and everyone you know like, I don't know... me!"_**

**_"No, he is bluffing. His family means more than anything else."_**

**_"You're sure about that?" _**

**_"Well I don't know Damon. I mean, I guess there's only one way to find out, right? Call Klaus's bluff."_**

**_"The only way to know if someone bluffs, Stefan, is to be ready to loose everything if you're wrong," Damon reminded his brother._**

"What did you see?"

Phylicia turned to her sister with a concerned look. "This is sacred space. The spirits are witches who were killed here. They showed me two brothers who were hiding four coffins here from someone names Klaus, who they were trying to kill or get rid of or I don't know. There was talk about originals and hybrids but nothing concrete."

"The spirits didn't say what they want us to do?" Denny looked back at their guide to make sure she was still frozen. Phyl shook her head and Payton gave Denny the okay. Holding up one hand the enchantment was removed and Caroline began talking exactly where she had left off.

* * *

Damon and Elena shared confused looks. The girls were definitely witches but how did they know about Klaus? Groaning, Damon let out a curse before pulling out his phone.

"What's the matter," she asked as he waited for the person on the other line to pick up.

"One of them sees the future; they were talking about premonitions, which means it is very possible that they know about us or could know about us in the near future." Hearing someone greet him over the speaker, he turned his attention back to his phone. "Brother," he returned the greeting, "I think it's time for a reunion. The rest of the gang is already here. Meet us at the Boarding house," and ended the call.

"What do we do now?"

"Now we wait until we can get Caroline away from those little witches. It's time to call a meeting."

* * *

Sheriff Forbes hung up her phone and turn her desktop off before leaving the office for the day. The council had pretty much gone extinct as the hope for a vampire free community died with the realization that at least one of each of the founding families was a supernatural being. Their families were becoming much more tolerant and as such a new council had formed with a different mission; to ensure that the supernatural residents of the town were held accountable for their actions or face the consequences. Unfortunately that also meant enforcing the Hybrids laws. Klaus might be in love with her daughter but Liz knew that wouldn't protect either of them if Klaus found there were witches in his hometown.

Making her way to the Boarding House, Liz saw she was the last one to show up and took a seat next to Caroline. "Okay, so what do you know," the police officer got down to business when they heard a door open and close. A modern day James Dean walked in and smiled.

"What'd I miss," he asked, before being assaulted by hugs.

* * *

The girls returned to the witch house around 11:30 that night after making sure they weren't being followed. Caroline had offered to hang out with them the next day and help them do research in the local library and they had agreed, telling her they would head back to their hotel and meet her the next day at noon.

Going into the trunk, Payton retrieved a duffle bag and slung it over her shoulder. Entering the house, they found the old melted candles flickered life into the wick all by itself, flame springing forth with no aid from them. They descended the stairs down into what would be the basement, setting up their supplies and forming a circle as they knelt on the ground. Holding hands, they called upon the spirits to send someone forward and tell them what they needed to do.

"Hear our plea; hear our cry, spirit from the other side. Come to me, I summon thee; cross now the great divide," and the vision of a young girl arose from the light of the candle.

"Blessed be," she greeted with a sad smile. "My name is Bonnie."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **thank you kblatz for the review! I was so excited to finally hear from one of my readers. Sorry that I didn't update sooner but I was away at Firefly in Delaware. I hope you like this.

* * *

"So," Stefan settled in, sitting next to Caroline, "what's the plan?"

"Well, right now there's not much of a plan so much as surveillance," his friend spoke. "I told them I would meet them at the library tomorrow to focus on their ancestor who moved to Salem. They've been talking about heading there and spending part of their summer there so I don't know if we have to worry about them sticking around," Caroline told them.

"And if they're in Massachusetts then they're not breaking Klaus's law," Elena added. "That's all fine and good if they're friends, but what do we do if they turn out to be enemies? I mean, they already know about Stefan and Damon hiding the coffins from Klaus all those years ago; if one of them really is psychic then who knows what else they're aware of or how they'll use it against us."

"Plus," Stefan interjected, "we don't really know what their plans are. If they know about Klaus they could be here to overturn his laws or act against him. Do we really want another war in Mystic Falls? This is my home, and though I may only return every fifty years, I would like to know I have something to return to."

"There is the obvious answer," Damon squinted his eyes and turned to Caroline. "We can let Klaus deal with this. You still have his number, don't you Blondie?"

"I am not calling Klaus," she bit off at him. "This town is finally original and hybrid free and I would personally like to keep it that way."

"Or you're just too embarrassed to see him again after-"

"_Damon_! That's enough," Elena chastised him. "We don't talk about that and she's right. We're not contacting Klaus," she shut him down when he tried to interrupt, "not until we know what they want."

* * *

"Blessed be," they responded. The spirit in front of them was just as young as them or at least appeared that way, with dark brown hair and bangs that hung straight across her forehead.

"Can you tell us about the spirits that reside here," Phylicia asked. "There's a lot of chatter but I have a hard time getting a clear reading from any of them."

"The spirits are literally hundreds of witches who were put to death here. They protect this space; always have, at least since I found this place," she said, soft spoken.

"How long ago was that," Payton questioned.

"About twelve years ago. Two years before I died," Bonnie said sadly.

"We're sorry," Denny offered. It wasn't that she wasn't sensitive to this kind of stuff, but Prudence Halliwell-Cooper was intent on focusing on herself and her own needs. So often those needs hadn't been met because she was the oldest of three daughters and her mother had constantly made her sacrifice her own desires to take care of her little sisters. Denny didn't resent them, but something inside her had always pushed her to get out of there and follow her own dreams, and she knew that if she let herself be too soft or care too much that she would end up stuck in a life she didn't want. To others she appeared selfish, unwilling to give up her time and attention to anyone else, but something in her being; hidden deep in the corners of her mind and heart kept urging her to make herself the number one priority in her life. As a result not many people got to see her like this.

"Thank you," Bonnie smiled. "It was my own fault," she admitted, "but I would never take it back."

"What happened," Phyl wondered out loud.

Bonnie tilted her head as she let her mind revisit the past. "There was a boy," the witch answered with her eyes closed and her hands resting over her heart. "He meant more to me than life itself."

Payton's brow furrowed as she wondered how anyone could mean so much to someone while her twin let tears come to her eyes; Phyl dreamed about finding that kind of love and was sad for their new friend that it had ended so bittersweet. Prudence vowed never to feel that way for someone else; she loved too much and too deep, her first instinct was to be willing to sacrifice for her family and friends when the time came for it but that kind of love was too painful. The teen couldn't imagine how much worse it would be to be in love with someone; the constant hurt and aching as your soul fought with everything to be with that one person.

"What happened to him," Phyl had to ask. It was a story that just pulled at her heartstrings.

"He lived," Bonnie laughed and cried at the same time, "which was all I ever wanted for him. I couldn't bare to see him lose everything to this town. I _wouldn't_ let that happen."

"What's up with this town," Payton picked up on Bonnie's words. "There seems to be a lot more to it than white picket fences and homecoming dances."

"This town has a rich history, one that began more than a thousand years ago," she began to explain.

* * *

Caroline stood under the midnight sky, leaning against the trunk of her car; an old photograph in her hands and remorse written all over her face.

"Care," Elena approached and noted that her friend was quickly wiping away tears. "Care," she called and ran a hand up and down her back, "I'm so sorry for what Damon said. How are you holding up?"

"Not so well," she answered truthfully. Shaking her head, she opened her car door and threw the picture back into her glove compartment and sobbed. "I must be the worse person in the world. I loved Tyler," she expressed forcefully, "and yet I did the worse thing I could ever do and it's my fault," the blonde began hitting her car, denting it several times before Elena spun her around and wrapped her tightly in her embrace.

"It's not your fault," the brunette whispered with such conviction as she rocked her best friend, running her hand over her blonde locks. "It wasn't your fault; you couldn't have known."

* * *

"-That's why the spirits have called you here," Bonnie finished her story. "It's up to you to fix this and restore the balance again; I just hope that you don't end up like me. I wasn't strong enough," she told them, "but _you_ are. Blessed be," she whispered.

"Blessed be," they responded and Denny picked up a candle, blowing it out and releasing Bonnie's spirit back to it's resting place.


	6. Chapter 6

"This is so different then anything we've ever done or heard of our parents doing," Payton was the first to speak after Bonnie departed. "I mean, usually we battle demons or warlocks and it's over. Very rarely have we had to spend weeks if not months to vanquish our enemy."

"Yeah, well don't forget that we're not vanquishing him," Denny pointed out. "If Bonnie is right then there's no way to kill this guy."

"That's even harder," Phyl cried. "We're going to have to be ten steps ahead of him at all times and from what she said about Klaus it's extremely unlikely that will happen."

"It's going to be a lot of planning," Denny muttered to herself, "and he may be unvanquishable but that doesn't mean we're screwed," her voice gradually increased in volume and intensity. "We're the next generation of Charmed ones, although when the time comes we'll probably need our own siblings to come so we can tap into our power of three, but that means we're stronger than him and we have more powers. Cooler powers."

"We also have the drop on them and he knows nothing about us," Payton agreed. "We can cast anti-compulsion spells, gather support from the witches on this coast. I mean, the aunts gave us a whole list of contacts that we can use if need be. It could take months, but we start here and in Massachusetts; everywhere that isn't under his law."

"We get this whole operation up and moving before moving into his territory," Phyl said. "The witches rose up against Marcel, they can do it again. All they need is a leader. That's why the spirits chose us. If anyone was going to lead the witches then the most powerful witches the world has ever known are the only ones who can get the job done."

"It will have to be more than just the witches," Denny advised them. "It will take months and a lot of persuasion but we need to get the werewolves on our side. We need to sit down and make a list of tasks that will debilitate Klaus; taking his hybrids and his ability to make them useless, loosen his control on the witches, etc. etc. It's a good thing we have so many psychics in the family," her brow lifted her nose turned up as she thought about it. "Speaking of family, we can't tell them about any of this yet."

"The aunts would kill us if we kept this from them," Payton reminded her younger cousin.

"They'll rush out here before we have a chance to get rolling and draw more attention to us," Denny pointed out. "We need time to research and plan, and honestly, my sisters are too young for this kind of thing. Patience is barely thirteen and Purity is ten. Wyatt is in the middle of his residency and Chris is busy with the police academy; Mom's new book is coming out and she has the book tour to do and Aunt Piper has major renovations going on at the club and the restaurant. The only possible option is to involve aunt Paige and she was really looking forward to her second honeymoon. Do you guys want to ruin all that when we can get a lead on this?"

"She has a point," Phyl hated to admit.

"Agreed," Payton groaned. "But...there is another option. One that would prove beneficial if you're up for it."

* * *

Liz had left, going back to the office to do background checks on the girls. Caroline had handed over copies of the research she had helped the Halliwells with and they were a fairly public family since Phoebe was a famous advice columnist and author, and her sister Piper owned a famous restaurant and club out in California. Still, that didn't mean they had nothing to hide and Liz would make sure that these girls were exactly who they said they were.

Jeremy and Matt had left already and only Caroline, Damon, Stefan and Elena were left in the boarding house. It was almost two in the morning and they were getting ready to retire for the night when they heard knocking coming from the front door.

"That's weird," Stefan said. "I didn't hear a car pull up."

"Neither did I," Damon said ominously and followed his brother.

He opened the door to find three teen aged girls on his porch and knew immediately who they were. "May I help you," he pretended not to know who they were.

"I think it's more about what we can do for you," Phylicia grinned from her place, leaning back against a pillar, "_Stefan_."

* * *

Sitting down, the girls watched carefully to make sure that no one got any ideas. Caroline and Elena brought out coffee and biscotti, placing the trays on the table and offering it to the girls. Denny nudged Phyl who rolled her eyes and put a hand out to touch the tray. "It's alright," she told her cousins and picked up a cookie for herself. Caroline and Elena shared a look before taking a coffee for themselves.

"Ah," Damon smirked, "you must be the psychic. You've got to love witches," he rolled his eyes at his brother.

"That's funny, because I love vampires," Denny responded just as snarky before Damon's coffee inexplicably exploded all over him.

Cursing, he stood up and brushed what he could off. "She reminds me of Bonnie," he snarled, his friends laughing at him.

"She says 'hi' by the way," Denny drank her coffee.

"What?" Elena was on the edge of her seat.

"We summoned her a couple of hours ago," she explained. "Told us all about you and this town."

"You're lying," Caroline jumped down there throats, ready to start a fight they had agreed not to have. Bonnie's death had been hardest on her. Though she loved Elena, Bonnie had always been closer to her.

"Do you want proof," Denny sat up and put her coffee down; her smirk rivaling Damon's.

"How is it possible," Elena asked.

"We're witches," Payton said. "We can do anything."


	7. Chapter 7

Damon watched from afar, skeptical of the witches claims that they could summon Bonnie from the dead. They had debated which spell to use, talking cryptically as one or the other finished the third's sentences. "What's the hold up," he demanded as he became frustrated by the three girls.

"Just a difference of opinion," Denny responded. "We're deciding whether we want to summon her which is what we typically do or if we want to use a spell that's a little more...grounded," the sixteen year old struggled to find the right word.

"What do you mean," Stefan walked forward; his lips puckered as his eyes searched theirs for a deeper meaning.

"Well," Payton explained, "usually we cast a spell that allows the presence of the spirit to manifest within our realm without taking a physical form. It's quick, it's easy and the spirit can be relinquished from the physical plane quickly."

"And the other spell," Caroline ventured.

"Well, it's a blood to blood spell that allows you to summon the spirit of a relative in a corporeal form but since Bonnie isn't a relative we would have to rework the spell in order for it to work," Phyl jumped in. "It would give Bonnie a stronger foothold on our plane and she would be here until we reversed the spell. Theoretically, she could stay long enough to help us with our plan to set the witches free from Klaus's law but we would need a piece of her hair or body."

"So do that," Elena implored. "Bonnie is a Bennett witch; one of the strongest witches out there. If anyone can use their magic to loosen Klaus's control-"

"A Bennett witch? Can't be that strong if we've never heard of them," Denny muttered under her breath and received the stink eye from Caroline.

"She was a stronger witch than you could ever hope to be," the blonde threw back, extremely emotional and not her usual friendly, compassionate self.

Laughing, Denny moved to the couch and slung her arm over the back, the other hand playing with her hair. "You guys really are clueless to the world of magic, aren't you? I would have thought living in a town full of the supernatural would and being vampires and all, you would actually know a little something about the subject."

Phyl swatted her, reprimanding her to be nice as she let her sister explain it to them. "Your friend may have been a strong witch compared to the ones you've come across, but the fact of the matter is that the strongest line of witches the world has ever known originated here in this town," she paused, "with the birth of our ancestor Melinda Warren."

Damon chuckled while Stefan sat on the edge of the coffee table, intrigued by their story. "You're saying that not only are you stronger than the Bennetts' but you are the strongest witches- ever?"

"Well, some of the strongest," Phyl blushed as Stefan stared at her. "Melinda was blessed with three powers; the ability to move things with her mind, see the future, and freeze time. These powers have been passed down through our line for generations, evolving into other abilities. Anyway, Melinda was accused by a lover of practicing witchcraft and she was convicted of the charges; sentenced to burn at the stake."

"In Salem," Caroline remembered from the research she had done for them two days earlier. She stared off distantly, not ready to let go of the hurt and anger that had risen up when they had told her they could summon Bonnie. While there was nothing in the world Caroline wanted more than to see her friend again, the vampire didn't want to let her hopes get the better of her if they were lying. She couldn't go through losing her childhood friend again.

"That's right," Payton smiled and sat next to Denny. "When they executed her, she vowed that each generation of Warren witches would grow stronger until the arrival of three sisters who would be known as the Charmed ones. Together they could tap into the power of three. They're our mothers."

"Wait," Caroline said and stood up, "when I compiled your family tree I distinctly remember that there were four sisters born the generation before you; Piper, Phoebe, Prudence and-"

"-and Paige," Denny stared at her manicure; bored with the conversation.

"That's an awful lot of P names," Damon remarked snidely, sipping his bourbon.

"It's a family tradition," Denny smiled maliciously and Payton and Phyl snickered.

"If there were only supposed to be three Charmed ones then how were there four sisters," Stefan asked.

"There are other kinds of supernatural beings that you've never heard of or come across here," Payton continued. "Aunt Prue was the oldest and raised our Aunts Piper and Phoebe after their mother was killed by a water demon. They didn't know about our mother, Paige. Their mother gave her to a church after she was born and asked the nun to find her a good home. Grandma asked that her name begin with a P."

"Why did they give her up?" Elena couldn't imagine giving up a child when you already had three.

"Well, the thing is, Grandma Patty had an affair after her marriage to our Aunts' father dissolved," Phyl took over. "Remember how we said there are other kinds of supernatural beings? Well, witches tend to work hand in hand with whitelighters. They're like guardian angels for witches; humans who have done a lot of good in their lives and are offered the opportunity to protect witches after they die. Anyway," she pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear, swallowing as she watched Stefan staring at her, "it used to be forbidden for witches and whitelighters to be together -still is, actually- but Grandma fell in love with her whitelighter Samuel, and the rest is history."

"Having Paige," Payton picked up, "was something that scared our Grandma and Grams. They were afraid that if the Elders knew about her that they would strip the Aunts of their powers and take Paige. That's why they gave her up; why they never told Patty's daughters about their sister."

"So how did they find about her," Elena was intrigued by somebody else's family drama.

Denny sat up straight. "Aunt Prue was killed and the power of three was broken. The spirits must have decided to send her a sign, because she showed up at her funeral. The power of three was reconstituted and Aunt Paige took Prue's place in the circle. Piper, Phoebe and Paige each had three kids and we form our own power of three."

"Tipping the scales of good versus evil dramatically in our favor," Phyl added. "I mean, we keep increasing three fold and our powers with it, though some of us are stronger than others but not by much."

"How are some of you stronger and please," Damon begged with his eyes boring into them, "don't tell me we got stuck with the weaker ones."

Payton narrowed her eyes at him and before anyone knew it he was flying across the room, held to the wall by an invisible force. "Do you want to talk about who's weak now?"

"No," he struggled to voice as he felt a pressure on his neck and suddenly he was released, falling to his knees.

"To answer your question," Payton glared at him, "each generation is stronger than the last; the firstborns are always the strongest. Once aunt Prue passed away aunt Piper was the strongest; her son Wyatt is the most powerful of our generation, followed by his brother Chris and their sister Melinda. The rest of us are on about the same level as Chris and Melinda, with Denny being the most powerful of her siblings and me and Phyl are pretty even; what with being twins and all."

"And are these relatives going to help us neutralize Klaus," Stefan asked them.

"When the time comes. Bonnie explained to us about the laws here," Denny spoke. "We don't want to risk tipping anyone off by having so many witches here; especially a group that gives off a huge concentration of power."

"Do you really think you can stand up to Klaus," Caroline asked. "After all, we've tried it before and it never really worked out in our favor."

"There's just one little difference between you and us," Denny told her. "You're all weaker then him. We're not. We might not be able to kill him but we can certainly stop him."

* * *

"This is our only option right now," Payton persuaded Caroline and Elena. "She's been dead for a decade and her father sold their house. Until we can find some physical link to draw her forward we can only summon her spirit."

The three girls walked closer to the middle of the Salvatore attic where the other witches were setting up the candles. The boys stood back and watched as the cousins congregated in a circle, clasping each other's hands before chanting; surprised to hear them casting in English instead of Latin.

"Hear our plea; hear our cry, spirit from the other side. Come to me, we summon thee; cross now the great divide," they cast and twirling lights appeared, at first blinding and then illuminating as Bonnie appeared in her ghostly form.

Elena reached for Caroline's hand as tears pooled in both their eyes. There friend had come home, if only for a short time.


	8. Chapter 8

Bonnie appeared, tears in her eyes that matched both Caroline's and Elena's. Stefan wore a look of relief while Damon managed a small, sad smile. The witch may not have been his biggest fan but they had understood each other. He had been moved -slightly- when Jeremy had told them that Bonnie had died after exhausting her body and her powers bringing him back from the dead.

"Is it really you," Caroline laughed as she cried, wiping her tears away with the back of her hand.

"Yes, Care," she reached out a hand that would never be able to make physical contact; a small gesture for her best friend. "I've missed you all so much," her voice caved and she turned to Elena.

"How have you been," the doppelganger was determined to be brave through her tears.

"I've been taken care of," she answered. "The witches have helped me through it all. You don't have to worry about me."

"We're always going to worry," Elena told her. "But we'll feel better about it now. I wish Jeremy was here to see you."

"The boy," Denny asked, "right? The one you saved?"

"Not only saved," Stefan spoke proudly, "she brought him back from the dead."

The tension grew thick as their faces turned from one of mutual admiration to stone cold and resistant in less than a second. "_That's_ what you meant when you said he meant more to you than_ life itself_," Denny demanded. She understood the concept of that kind of love -though she had no desire for it at all- but could never justify such an act. Payton pulled her by her upper arm, keeping her from relinquishing Bonnie's presence here; only slightly less disturbed by the information.

"She loved him," Caroline retorted. "What would you have done?"

"Let what was meant to be remain," Phylicia stepped forward. "Why didn't you tell us earlier," she demanded of the other witch.

"I knew what you would think, of me," she said after a slight pause. "I've had ten years to reflect on every decision I made since finding out I was a witch. To see how far off the path I came before I died. I understand now why I had to face the consequences of my personal gain," Bonnie stared them in the eyes.

"_Personal_ _gain_? You saved my brother's life," Elena defended her.

"But it was dark," she barely whispered. "I turned my back on nature to do it and I had to pay the price. A life for a life. There's no cheating Death. I know that now."

Damon snorted in contempt at the Halliwells' attitude. "How can you hold it against her for doing something anyone would do for someone they love?"

"Do you think our mothers wouldn't have done anything in their power to save my aunt Prue," Denny demanded. "No one has control over life and death like that and when you play at it you don't get away with it Scott free. Not only did Bonnie pay that price but I guarantee you there were others added to Death's list because of her actions. People who are supposed to be alive today who are gone!"

Denny paced, holding her hands to her temples as she tried to calm herself. The last thing she needed was to lose control of her powers. Not again. "I have to get out of here," she said and ran out the door, leaving everyone else in shock.

Bonnie held it together. The past decade had given her a kind of strength, softer then she had possessed when she was living and yet stronger, allowing her to deal with the repercussions of her actions. "When you need me you can call me. I want nothing more than to loosen Klaus's hold on this town and our community. The witches will not be oppressed any longer," she told Phyl and Payton.

They nodded, eyes cast away from her as she made her goodbyes. "Caroline," Bonnie said finally, "whatever else they need to know, you have the answers. You just have to look again. Blessed be."

"Blessed be," the witches offered begrudgingly.

"Should we go after her," Pay asked and Phyl shook her head.

"No; Denny will be back soon enough. Besides, we don't want to interfere with fate," she told her twin.

* * *

Denny had calmed down after an hour and realized just how hungry she was; anger had a way of doing that to her. Stopping at the grill, she took a seat at the bar and saw Caroline's friend come up to her.

"Can I get you anything," he asked. At twenty-eight, he was more than eleven years her senior but boy were his eyes blue.

"I'll take a strawberry milkshake and the house burger," Denny smiled the same toothy smile her mother and aunts had. What the hell, she was going to be seventeen in a few months anyway. "It's Matt, right," she flirted and the sound of his chuckling gave her butterflies.

"Yeah," his head tilted slightly, "and you're jail bait."

"Only for a few more months," she leaned forward on her arms; glad for a distraction. "Why, are you already seeing someone?"

Matt laughed, shaking his head. "I'm going to go put your order in. Let me know if you need anything else," and he turned to leave the bar.

"How about your number," she called after him; Matt's chuckle soared across the restaurant and Denny was more determined than ever to get what she wanted, even if she didn't know exactly what that was.

* * *

"Well," Payton told them, "Denny seems to be doing better and she's safe. Hopefully she'll still feel better when she comes back."

"How do you do that," Damon asked curiously.

"I'm part whitelighter. We can sense our charges and the connection to them allows me to know if they're in danger or hurt. Because of our blood link to one another I can keep track of anyone in my family, although their magic allows them to turn that beacon off or go mute. My cousin Chris is constantly turning off the volume when he leaves home so he's not constantly distracted by the family calling him for any and every reason. "

"So you can sense her in your head," Elena was amazed.

"Sense them, feel them, hear them; the whole shebang. So can Phyl and our brother Henry, as well as our cousins Chris and Wyatt who are also half whitelighters. Of course, Denny and her sisters have similar powers because they're half cupid but the way they teleport is different-"

"Half cupid? Teleport?" Damon was not believing anything he was hearing, that is until Phyl orbed in before his very eyes in a flutter of a thousand brightly shimmering lights that coalesced into her physical form.

"You rang," Phyl impersonated Lurch and snapped her fingers in frustration; not allowing a single second for her sister to interrupt. "I left my food downstairs. Sandwich," she called and her plate appeared in the same manner in her very hands.

"See," Payton asked the three vampires and Stefan came walking in, bewildered.

"I was bringing your sandwich up for you and then it disappeared just like you did," he told Phyl. Looking to his friends he asked, "Did you see how she did that?"

"Oh, we saw it brother," Damon acknowledged, still shocked.

"And I thought what we could do was amazing," Elena spoke.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: I'm dying for a review...please, someone tell me what you think! or give me a fortune or read my tea leaves- just give me something!**

* * *

Denny threw her cash down and walked out to her car. Sure, she could have blazed in and out -the way in which cupids teleport- but there was a certain satisfaction that came from putting as much distance as possible between herself and the situation by car; the physical act of driving and the thought it required. Of course, she hadn't gone that far as she only went to the grill for lunch but it had certainly done the trick. Flirting with the cuter -and older- bartender had been the highlight of her day.

She found herself by a lake which did not surprise her. Ever since she could remember she had been drawn to the water; both in awe and fear. There was no reason why. It had always just been. Now, calm at last, she thinks about whether or not to go back. Denny knew she had an obligation as a witch to relinquish Klaus's hold over the community; an obligation to this town as well since Mystic Falls was where her family legacy had begun with the birth of Melinda Warren. In an odd way, Virginia was as much her home as California. If it hadn't been for this place then Denny would still be stuck under her mother's thumb; not that the family knew anything about it.

Denny had approached this summer as a last hurrah. She had wanted to go to Europe with her cousins as a kind of last call; after summer ended she would be attending college in Virginia which was ironic considering that had been there cover story for researching their genealogy at the University of Richmond. Her mother would be surprised to learn that her plan to keep her eldest daughter close had backfired. This was supposed to be the beginning of something new; her independence from her family as well as their legacy. It wasn't that she didn't want to be a witch, she just didn't want to be a Charmed one anymore. Saving the witches and stopping Klaus would be the last thing she did as a member of her family. She just wasn't sure if she was prepared for such a large battle.

* * *

"She's close by," Payton turned to her sister. Phyl nodded, her eyes staring off only for her sister to nudge her gently. "What's going on with you? You've been weird ever since Mom agreed to let us go on this road trip."

Phyl looked around, casting out her senses to make sure that no one was listening in. Sighing, she turned to her sister and hesitated as she looked in an identical pair of eyes and tried to talk around the whole truth. "I just have a really bad feeling is all."

"Well, your feelings are usually right. You know there's nothing you can't tell the family, right?"

"Unless it's about the family," Phyl muttered and looked at her nails before staring back at her sister. "It's really not any of my business except that it has to do with Denny."

"Well if something's going to happen to her then of course it's our business," Payton spoke forcefully and stood side by side with her twin.

"It's not that something is going to happen to her so much as something she's going to do. Pay, I don't think she's coming home with us after this."

"Why wouldn't she come home?" Payton was so confused. 0

The twins had been so caught up in their conversation that they hadn't felt her coming closer. "Because I'm moving here," Denny answered from behind them.

* * *

"_That_ is some _crazy_ shit," Damon spoke first.

"I didn't realize how much there was out there," Caroline spoke. "I mean we knew about witches and vampires and werewolves but to know that there's all these other kinds of creatures out there is amazing. I thought I had finally started seeing what was out there and then these witches come along and my whole world is different."

"It was great to see Bonnie again. I'm just sad that Jeremy wasn't there to see her," Elena said. She had missed her best friend every day for the past ten years but there was nothing like the pain of losing the person you were in love with. The vampire still didn't know how to tell her brother that he had missed out on seeing Bonnie.

Damon pulled her backwards into his arms, his head resting in the crook of her neck. "He'll be fine. Besides, if the witches could summon her once I'm sure they'll be able to do it again. Maybe _after_ the battle to end all battles ensues."

"I still want to learn more," Stefan finally jumped in. "Besides, if the girls have as many allies as they say they do then it will be good for us to know what creature can do what. It's going to be a while before they're ready to move against Klaus; we have the time to learn."

"So what, we all start taking witch lessons," Damon asked. "I can think of better things to do," kissing Elena's nape.

"Uh," Denny groaned as she entered the kitchen and reached over the couple to grab an apple off of the island, "get a room. How can anyone manage to keep their food down around you?"

"You know," Damon replied, "I _do_ have over one hundred and fifty years on you so you might want to be careful over there in the peanut gallery."

"You may be older -and it shows by the way, you might want to start using a cream for that- but I'm more powerful than all of you put together. As are my cousins and just about _everyone of my relatives_. So you might want to learn how to take a joke and go with the flow," she shot back and everyone else started to laugh.

"I think I just found my new BFF," Elena announced.

Everyone started joking together but Stefan could tell that Phylicia was upset about something. It was odd how taken he was with her. The last time he had fallen for someone so suddenly was when he had met Elena. Watching, he saw her step away from the group to head outside. Without notice, he extracted himself from the group and followed her outside to the front yard.

Phyl had walked out further to the wooded area, leaning against a tree with her arm hooked around the trunk as she looked out into the night. "You know, for as long as I can remember my family has always been in the same space," turning, she looked at Stefan and offered a weak smile. "My older cousins have stuck pretty close to home and our parents always kind of pushed us or encouraged us to have close relationships. Since we're witches there aren't a lot of people we share our secret with; it makes having friends hard and we've all been each others best friends."

Stefan listened, thinking about his own relationship with his brother. "I've only ever had one best friend; she and Damon kind of hated each other," he joked. "Though Damon and I had a strained relationship, he's proven over time to be one of the rare people I can trust, especially since Lexi's death. I won't lie and say it happened easily. There was a lot of hurt between us because of what happened between us and Katherine before and after we were turned but coming back home was when I finally allowed myself to have friends outside of my secret.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is, whatever is going on that has you worried right now," he moved toward her, his arms crossing over each other as he stepped closer, "whether it's making new friends or letting go of old ones, you can always find one person out there that will be there no matter what."

Phyl was in awe of him. All of her life she had been taught to put down the things that go bump in the night but her mother had always stressed the importance of nature versus nurture. There was good in this new group of people she had met and Phyl was glad that somehow their destinies were intertwined-if only for a limited time.

"I've always had my family, and I'm just afraid of losing one of them. But it is nice for that circle of friends to expand," she gave him a genuine smile this time. "Thanks for the pep talk. You're surprisingly good at it," she flirted and was glad to see him smile.

"I've had some practice over the last decade. Do you want to go for a walk? Get away from all the crazy back there?"

She nodded and grinned at the same time. "That would be great," Phyl answered demurely.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: _and the reviews are in! Special thanks to:_**

**_Kblatz_**

**_Gspratt10807_**

**_& wickedlover87_**

**_You guys totally made my day and I appreciate everything you had to offer!_**

* * *

Stefan stared at the rising sun, a smile spread across his face that he just couldn't seem to shake. Phylicia Halliwell-Mitchell was something else. Before he even thought about what she was; a witch, a whitelighter, a psychic, Stefan was thinking about who she was. Phyl was quarky and yet shy; spoke her mind yet didn't fight for dominance. They were attributes she shared with Elena which had scared him when he realized it, but then he thought about their walk and everything they had talked about and how during the time he spent with her his history with Elena was the furthest thing from his mind.

As a vampire, emotions ran so highly and as a creature with the potential to spend an eternity on earth, those emotions could last for decades. When Stefan had left Mystic Falls all those years ago he had to learn how to do everything without giving into the anger and hurt. Even when he had come face to face with Elena only days before, Stefan had felt his entire body seize and the breath -that he didn't need to breathe- get knocked out of his lungs.

Phyl wasn't like the addiction he felt for Elena, she was the anti-Elena; calming his nerves and senses, brightening not only his world but his being. The breath no longer got knocked out of his lungs, it held there. Within moments of meeting her something within him had just known that though he had loved before her, he wouldn't love another woman again. Now he just had to make sure that they could pull off their little coup without anything happening to her.

* * *

Matt was going for his morning jog while Jeremy opened the Grill. He thought about the girl that hit on him the night before and smiled; his baby blue eyes gleaming with humor. It had been a while since anyone had tried to catch him with such intensity. Sure, he had gotten close to Rebekah and now they were good friends, but his last relationship had ended in disaster when he ended up engaged to a witch that had tried to go up against Marcel. That had been six years ago. There had been a fling here and there, but no one had looked at him with the same straight forward desire and interest as Denny had last night.

He was flattered even if she was a baby. Matt thought about what would have happened if she was another five years older when suddenly someone else was running at his side. "Elena," he was surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"Going for a run with my favorite quarterback," she laughed. "I wanted to invite you over for brunch actually, and I know you don't leave your phone on when you run."

"Brunch? Are _you_ cooking?"

She smacked him on the arm and laughed with him. "I will have you know that Damon has spent the last ten years teaching me how to be one of the best Italian chefs ever."

"And how's that going for him?"

"I can make pasta from a box without burning the water," she admitted. "But the good thing is I have all the time in the world to learn and Damon is incredibly patient," she saw Matt's face contort in shock, "at least when it comes to teaching me how to cook. I think it's because we don't actually need to eat to survive so he gives me more time to learn."

"Alright," he agreed and they began to run toward the boarding house.

* * *

"Hey, handsome." Denny gave that cocky little half smile she had perfected. "Long time no see."

Matt smiled. "You know, there are a lot of great guys from the football team who hang out at the grill. I'm sure we can find one to introduce you to."

"I've always had a thing for older guys. Sit with me?"

"Sorry, kid. I'm hanging with Caroline today," and he picked up his plate and headed to the table.

Phyl watched from across the room and smiled. "Good for you," she whispered, glad at how things were turning out with Matt and Denny.

"Alright," Damon called everyone to the table and held up a mimosa. "Not my usual drink but I guess anytime you can imbibe alcohol in the morning it's a good thing. So here's to old friends, new friends, and hopefully a Klaus free existence. Let's eat."

An hour later it was time to get down to business. "What's the plan," Stefan asked.

"Well," Payton answered, "I've been thinking about what we've learned and the three of us want to look into our old family property; the witch house," she expanded, "find out who has the deeds right now and what we can do with the property. It's one of the most powerful sacred spaces we've come across and I'm sure we can tap into the power of the spirits to help us."

"I can look into that," Caroline offered, "but Bonnie tried to channel the dead witches and it almost killed her."

"Yeah, well no offence but Bonnie was still new to the whole witch thing and we're not only more powerful than her but we've been trained our whole lives. We have better control and we know something she didn't," Denny said.

"Which is what," Damon asked.

"The house is equidistant from the five spiritual elements, putting it right smack in the middle of a pentagram which makes it a source of power all by itself," Phyl replied. "By claiming it for good we can boost our powers and our spells, using it as a command center."

"Like your family manor back in California," Caroline remembered from the articles she had googled after the witches had told her about their ancestral home.

"And after that," Matt wondered.

"Well, we could cloak it so that we can continue to hide our presence from Klaus," Payton told them, "and we can start hitting the books. Try and find a way to summon Bonnie on a more permanent basis like we discussed last night."

"You still want to do that," Elena asked. "I know you guys were upset with her."

Denny grimaced. "Yeah, well she's had ten years on the other side to learn from the spirits. She could be beneficial but the issue is finding something to summon her with. If we could get DNA off of a relative we could cast the spell but her Dad left town after he sold their house and as you've told us, Abby fled after Bonnie's death and hasn't been heard of since."

"Wait," Stefan paused, "Caroline knows what to do."

"Um, _no_! No, I don't. Where is this coming from?"

"Bonnie said you would know where to look," he reminded his friend. "Right before she left, she said you could call her whenever you needed her."

"I don't know what that means," the blonde cried in frustration.

"You guys grew up here, right? Quaint, small town. Did you guys ever bury a time capsule or create a kind of memorial or anything where some physical piece of Bonnie might still reside," Phyl asked.

"No," Elena whispered; her brow furrowed as she thought. "That's not what she meant. She specifically told Caroline that she knew where to look. If she meant anything else she would have included me and Matt because we all grew up together."

Payton looked up. "The research," she said. "Where is it?"

Caroline walked over to her attache case and removed the documents that she printed. "But this is about you guys. What does it have to do with Bonnie?"

"Oh, _we're idiots," _Denny realized. She pointed to a name on the family tree. "Do you see what I see?"

Phyl pulled out her phone and ran a search, coming up with a whole other side to their genealogy. "Son of a bitch," she murmured. "I would never have guessed."

"But I should have," Denny cursed herself. "But Bennett isn't an uncommon name."

"What's going on," Matt asked.

"Bonnie Bennett is my very distant cousin on my Grandfather Victor's side."

"What does that mean? You're all related," Caroline asked.

"No, not all of us. Our mother has a different father then her sisters. If Bonnie is related by our Aunts' father, then Denny is the only one of us whose related to her," Phyl told them.

"And I can use my blood to summon her," Denny concluded.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: short and sweet. **

* * *

Denny stared at the document in her hand. She didn't know whether she wanted to laugh maniacally or cry in rage. As she tried so hard to sever her connections to her overbearing family more connections were uncovered. Why? Why was she drowning in the Halliwell tradition of tragedy? Everything just seemed to drag her back to the only destiny she had; death. Finding Bonnie was just another reminder.

It was so odd to think that this condition existed, especially since it was in such an unexpected place. Denny loved her grandpa Victor; he was amazing and understood what she was going through. Heck, he was the one who encouraged her to look at going to school out of state. Still, Victor was mortal or at least they had always thought so. Somewhere further back in his ancestry witches had sired his bloodline, it was just so long ago that the blood passed down to him had completely diminished any relation to the witches to be able to inherit any powers.

"Emily Bennett's family were originally slaves; that's how she's related to Victor," Payton was telling them; Denny was still staring off, not fully paying attention to her surroundings. "His family must have owned them and one of the men got a slave girl pregnant; she must have been a descendant of Ayana, and her children took the slave owner's last name of Bennett."

"Yet another interesting piece of family history we've learned on this vacation," Denny muttered. "My mother will just love this," she added with a sarcastic bite.

Payton and Phyl shared a look; each concerned with the growing bitterness they had seen in their favorite cousin and best friend. The twins were still reeling from her announcement earlier; the fact that Denny had been accepted to school in Virginia and wouldn't be coming home meant that the three best friends would be separated for the first time in their lives. Nothing they had seen or heard could explain why Denny was so angry with her mother or wanted to get as far away from their family and they were worried that there was more to the story.

"So Denny spills some blood and you speak in creepy Latin and Bonnie is back from the grave," Damien said in snarky disbelief. "Let's get this show on the road then," slapping his hands together and oozing a kind of hot sexual awkwardness.

"No creepy Latin necessary," Phyl informed them. "We just need some candles, a kind of token that belonged to Bonnie and an athame."

"A what," Matt asked.

"It's a ceremonial tool," Denny told him from where she stood in the other corner of the room. Normally she would have hit on him, dousing each word in sexual innuendo but the current turn of events had taken all of the fight out of her. "I have one in our supply bag. I'll go get it," she fled the room and everyone looked after her.

"Is it me or is she kind of being a downer," Caroline asked. "Shouldn't we be happy about being able to summon Bonnie?"

"Denny is kind of going through some weird family stuff right now," Phyl offered quietly. "She hasn't been herself," she looked toward Stefan, who offered her a small smile. It had been so easy to talk to him the night before and she wondered if she would have time to get to know him better during this entire mess. It's not like it was of any use, she thought. It wasn't like anything was going to come from this complication.

Denny walked back in heaving a black duffle bag that she unceremoniously dumped on the floor. "Here it is."

Phyl sighed while Payton groaned. Denny was not going to make this any easier on them and they got to unpacking the essentials when Phyl grabbed Payton's arm all of a sudden. "Someone's coming."

Denny looked to her cousins, suddenly full of concern. "Hide," she yelled to the others. "Get out of the way!"

Elena and Caroline backed up next to an old Armoire while the boys looked in disbelief. Caroline reached out and pulled Matt back just in time for dark black specks of light to come floating up from the floor boards.

"Darklighters," Denny yelled and two male darklighters took shape wearing black clothing and holding crossbows. She immediately froze them and ordered her cousins to leave.

"We're not going anywhere," Phyl said and called for a crossbow, orbing from their enemies hands into her own just as they unfroze and shot one in the heart while her sister threw the other one across the room with her telekinesis.

Denny threw out her hands and the last darklighter blew up in midair, raining little pieces of his leather trench coat before magically disappearing. "I love it when they clean up after themselves."

"What _were_ they," Elena asked and came out from her hiding place.

"Darklighters," Payton answered. "They're kind of like anti-whitelighters. There are a couple of different types; some hunt whitelighters down to keep them from protecting witches, or they hunt humans who are on the path to becoming future whitelighters and sometimes they even impregnate mortals to increase evil's population as well as to give them an identity in our world."

"And," Drenny added, "their arrows are poisonous to whitelighters," smacking her cousins at the same time.

"Ow! What was that for?" Phyl rubbed the spot on her upper arm where Denny hit her.

"When I tell you to leave, you leave nimrod! You two could have gotten yourselves killed!"

"We had it under control," Payton told her. "Besides, we had them out numbered."

"Just wait until I tell your mother about this," Denny said and blazed out.

"What? Denny!" Phyl tried to sense her while Payton yelled in frustration.

"Okay," Damon said. "More freaky teleportation, except instead of bright blue stars we see a bright pink cloudy haze."

"It's called blazing," Payton told them. "She didn't go far. She's outside. We should go talk to her," she told her sister.

"Maybe not," Phyl disagreed and turned to the others. "Matt, would you go talk to her? She won't want to speak to us right now and she seems to respond to you."

"Sure," the blond responded and went to go do what he could.

Payton furrowed her brow and gave Phyl a half smile. "What are you up to?"

"Nothing," she sang her denial. "Just trying to give her some space."


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: I'm back!****  
**

* * *

Matt found her out in the backyard.

Stopping, he stared at her for a minute. Life in Mystic Falls had been perfectly normal for the first sixteen years of his life, and then they came; the Salvatore brothers had been the beginning of the end to the peaceful, small town facade the community of Mystic Falls had built. Gone was the life he had imagined; marrying his childhood best friend, having two to four kids and finally being a respectable member of the town instead of some white trash kid of the town screw up. His sister had died, been resurrected and killed again. His mother had hit on his closest friend before leaving town again, and Matt had watched each and everyone of his friends die in this town. That was Matt's curse, to remain the only normal part of his home town; that was Matt's blessing.

He had known after that summer with Rebekah that he would grow old in Mystic Falls as he was forced to watch everyone he loved remain the same. While time would move forward for him, it would stay still for the others. The scenery would change; the styles and technology, but they would be trapped exactly as they were today for centuries. Matt would know hurt and eventually death but he would eventually know peace. This town had killed the dreams he once had but Matt was still able to make new dreams.

One of those dreams had been to settle down with Emma. Like a lot of other dreams it had died. Matt had wanted normal for once; to stay out of all the drama caused by the supernatural but Emma couldn't do that. She hadn't been able to put her duties as a witch aside not that Matt really expected her to. He had seen Bonnie battle to the ends of the Earth to keep the balance of nature, and Matt had realized he couldn't and shouldn't stop Emma either. He just couldn't be there with her while she did it and in the end Matt had been the one to end their engagement. There hadn't been anyone serious in his life since then, and here was this young sixteen year old girl who looked at him like she knew all the secrets of his universe.

Walking towards her, he took a deep breath as she turned her head looking directly at him. "Why'd they send you," she asked. "I thought you were trying to deter my little school girl crush."

"Phyl seemed to think I would make a much better shoulder to cry on. Also, she could tell how ticked off you were by their little act of recklessness. Are you really angry at them for staying to help you fight those darklighters?"

Denny looked away, moving towards a swinging bench that hung from a large oak tree. Sitting, she began kicking her feet just enough to make the bench sway. "Kind of," she answered remotely and stared up into his eyes. "You guys only know a little bit about the supernatural. I don't want it to sound like I'm undermining everything you've been through, but my family is like the ruling monarchy of good magic. I mean, we don't actually rule but we protect and watch over all good magic. We've been through a lot because of it."

"And that's what's got you in this funk," he asked in disbelief. "I mean, I've only known you for a couple of days and I don't want to seem like I know everything about you but you're the kind of person who seems fearless and doesn't let anything break her that easily. There has to be more to the story," he said sitting down next to her.

Denny turned to look at him. "My family has this huge weight to bare, and with everyday I'm faced with this gigantic responsibility it becomes more clear to me that our only destiny is to die. My ancestors have devoted their lives to the craft and protecting the innocent but who will protect us? Sooner or later this life is going to kill us and I want more," her voice shook with her declaration. "I want more than to wait to die."

Matt wrapped an arm around her and Denny scooted closer into his embrace. "It's okay to want more," he told her. "You should. None of us should have to risk our lives," he told her and the two sat outside for an hour as they tried to figure out what it was they were allowed to want and take from this world.

* * *

"_What_ is taking them so long," Caroline huffed as she stalked to the attic windows, trying to catch a glimpse of Denny and Matt as the twins set up the "I'm going to go get them."

"Leave them be," Phyl said firmly. "Whatever is bothering Denny could effect her powers and she is the only one who can summon Bonnie. If you want to see your friend on a more permanent basis then you need to let Denny work through this."

"Yeah, Barbie," Damon butted in from his place on the settee. "I would think you could relate, I mean didn't you also go through that post-puberty rage known as the teenage years? I seem to remember boy drama, daddy issues-"

"Damon," Elena warned, "leave Caroline alone or we'll start discussing your 'psycho-killer' phase."

"Is that different from his 'world class dick' phase, because I don't think he ever outgrew that," Caroline quipped and Damon pretended to laugh in the background.

"The day Damon stops being a dick is the day Stefan stops brooding," Elena pointed out and Stefan looked at her as if to say, 'Really? You're gonna throw me under the bus too?'. It made Elena and Caroline laugh hysterically and the Salvatore brothers moved to stand next to each other, not thrilled about the girls making fun of them.

"See," Damon told his brother, "this is why I like to avoid these reunions. At some point or another the girls band together at our expense and then they yell at me when someone ends up with a broken neck."

"All because of your fragile little ego," Caroline pointed out.

"Yes," Elena agreed, "but we've been working on that," she bounded over and gave him a kiss, stepping on her tippy toes as he took her face in his hands. Stefan looked to Phylicia as she flipped through the pages of a large book, wondering if they would ever be like that.

He joined her and looked over her shoulder to see if he could read what she was looking at. "What is this?"

"It's my Book of Shadows," Phyl told him. "Our family has written and recorded a large amount of spells that help us do everything from vanquish demons to switching bodies and visiting past lives. It's famous through out the witching community and the original is kept in our family manor."

"So it's like a grimoire," he said.

"Well, grimoires are typically associated with dark magic but yes, the idea is the same. The Halliwell Book of Shadows is far from regular books of shadows in that it protects itself. Only good can touch it and only Halliwells can take it out of the manor."

"The book can protect itself?" Stefan was impressed and in awe.

"It's imbued with Halliwell magic. Evil has tried to get the book before and some have even come close, but there's too much knowledge in the book and we could never allow that happen. Since the family has grown exponentially since the last generation, the Aunts have created personal copies for everyone that we can take with us to school or our own houses," Phyl explained. "Aunt Piper actually cast a spell so that anytime a spell is added to one book it is added to all of them."

"And what spell are you looking at right now?"

"It's a summoning spell. It will allow Bonnie to be summoned into a physical body. The spell works by linking her to Denny, and only Denny will be able to send her back."

"And once Bonnie is here we can use her knowledge from the other side to figure out how to put an end to Klaus's laws," he summarized.

"Exactly," the blonde smiled and tucked a strand of her rose gold hair behind her ears. "It will probably be weeks before we're ready to make a move. We'll need to come up with a strategy, defensive and offensive spells as well as immobilize any of Klaus's allies; get more witches on our side. It will take time," she said.

"I've got all the time in the world," the vampire grinned and Phyl could have sworn she was going to swoon. "It'll be nice to have the time to get to know you."


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: **a shorter chapter but a chapter none the less. Here you go.

* * *

Piper Halliwell sat in the sunroom, turning the page of a scrapbook that she, Phoebe and Paige had made years ago. Hearing the front door open, Piper lifted her head to see Paige walk in dressed in wide leg dress slacks, a royal blue velvet blazer left unbuttoned over a cream silk blouse and her usual Jimmy Choos. The sister who had once shared a love of funky fashion with Phoebe had let her tastes run more sophisticated and elegant; then again, when Paige had returned to work as a social worker it was necessitated.

"What do you have there," the brunette asked. At forty eight years old, she was as beautiful as she was when she met her sisters.

Piper let the tears well a little, though they no longer fell. "The scrapbook we made for Prue," she answered and patted the seat next to her. Paige sat down and leaned her head on Piper's shoulder.

"I'm really glad you guys let me help you put this together. I feel like I got to know her because of this," she confided.

Smiling, the eldest Halliwell turned the next page. Almost seventeen years ago the trio had taken the craft project upon themselves to memorialize their fallen sister. It was originally meant to be a gift for Phoebe, who was pregnant at the time with Prudence. Spreading her hand across the picture, Piper could almost relive this moment. It was a picture of Prue and Piper together when they had first moved out of the Manor into their own apartment. Prue had just gotten hired at the museum of natural history and the sisters had celebrated with Julia Roberts movies and cheap red wine.

"It's been more than twenty years since she died," Piper finally uttered. "Twenty-two years last month," she said and Paige looked up at her big sister.

Though Prue had always been there in the back of her mind- the older sister who never got to protect her; the shadow that often eclipsed her- Paige always seemed to be somewhere else when her anniversary rolled around. She knew that Piper and Phoebe often went to see her together; they always extended an invitation, but there was still a barrier holding her back. It was the voice inside her head that said she didn't deserve to mourn someone she hadn't ever known.

"Do you try anymore," she asked. When Piper gazed at her questioningly Paige expanded on her meaning. "To summon her? We could try now," she offered.

Piper hugged her sister. "Thank you, but I'm afraid it won't work. Besides, we should be talking about happier things. Have you heard from the girls?"

"Denny called me," she answered. "Something about my idiot daughters not getting out of the way during a darklighter attack. She promised to keep a list of things I have to yell at them about for when they come home."

"How considerate," Piper rolled her eyes. Looking one last time at a picture of Prue, Piper closed the scrapbook and placed it on the coffee table. "A year younger then them and yet Denny still manages to act like their older sister. I swear, sometimes I think she's Prue's daughter and not Phoebe's."

"I'm just glad she talked Phoebe into letting her go away for the summer before starting school. I swear, if I had to break up one more fight between them I was going to let Henry arrest them for domestic dispute."

"Kind of reminds me of Prue and Grams," Piper responded. "They were always at each other's necks; Prue trying to gain some semblance of independence and Grams always tightening the leash as she tried to get us ready for our destiny. It's kind of funny that Phoebe's the one who has turned into Grams, considering she was the rebellious one who broke all the rules."

"It's exactly what she deserves," Paige snickered. "I wonder what kind of trouble the girls are getting into at this very moment."

* * *

"Bonnie Bennett, blood of my blood; my third cousin twice removed, I summon thee," Denny performed the rite. All of a sudden a brilliant flash of white light formed and from the very center Bonnie appeared.

Standing from her seat, Denny moved toward her cousin; both witches eyeing each other as they tried to decide how to handle the moment where they officially became family. "It's nice to meet you," Denny said, holding out a hand. Bonnie accepted the handshake and a charge ran up their arms; the bond that now connected them to one another.

"It's good to meet you, too," Bonnie responded. "We have work to do."


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: here's what you asked for!**

* * *

_"I _told_ you I would wait for you," Klaus reminded her; the distance in between them did nothing to eliminate her need to be near him. "No matter what happens in my life or who comes into it or leaves it, I will _continue_ to wait for you. You are the woman I want to love for the rest of my life, Caroline." _

_Tears ran down her face as she sobbed and turned away from him. Heightened emotions had her laughing maniacally as unleashed anger tormented her. "That's your problem, Klaus," the blonde talked with her hands flailing every which way. "That's what has _always_ been your problem! You want to love someone and you want to be loved. First it was Tatia and now it's me," she pounded her palm to her chest, "but the problem is that you don't actually _know_ how to love anyone! All those years ago I thought I was finally getting to see the real you. The little boy who was abused and traumatized by his parents, who lashed out and tried to control everyone in his life so he would never have to feel that way again. __I know something changed in you when we met," she stepped back as he moved towards her. "You met someone who you felt more for than yourself. You relinquished control as much as you could, and I was pulled to you too," Caroline hit the wall of the building behind her and her face turned into Klaus's palm; he was pressing up against her and trying to stare into her eyes, which Caroline cast away in an attempt to remain strong. _

_"I would relinquish everything within my power to you," Klaus confessed, "if only I knew how you felt about me." _

_Caroline looked into his eyes, tormented by the hold he had over her and how it constantly jeopardized the love she had for Tyler and the life she held so dear in Mystic Falls. "One day, you will meet someone who loves you as much," she admitted, "or more, than I do. Hopefully you will be able to return that love," her voice began to break. "And I pray when that day comes; when you find her, that she will be yours and yours alone," the sobbing continued to wrack through her body as she forced herself to do something she hadn't been able to do for the past five years. "Because I _will always_ love Tyler more than you. I _will always choose_ Tyler over you. And the only future I have is with Tyler, and not with you," she cried and watched his entire face contort with pain; knowing he felt exactly like she did in that moment. _

_Wind brushed past her and she collapsed against the building; unleashing her voice as she screamed and cursed at the man who had destroyed her perfect love and small town life. Klaus was gone._

* * *

Bonnie stared Denny as they silently came to some kind of understanding. Turning, she ran to her friends and was caught in their arms; a snapshot of time that reminded her she was now frozen in awkward teenage glory that had claimed Elena and Caroline; young forever, or however long Bonnie was allowed to visit.

"Well," Damon said, "the prodigal witch returns," and enveloped him in his arms. Years of watching over him and Elena had finally softened Bonnie to the insecure, manipulative vampire.

"I can't believe you're here," Caroline clapped her hands to her mouth and hugged her again. "Oh, we have to have a welcome home dinner and we'll make all your favorite foods, and-"

"You might want to give the girl a moment to breathe," Stefan warned his best friend. "She's only been alive for about two minutes; you don't want to deprive her of oxygen," and was pleased when Bonnie gave him a hug.

"Food does sound good," Bonnie admitted. "You would be surprised at the things you miss on the other side. Are you guys cooking?"

The Salvatore brothers shared an amusing glance and Damon sighed in mock annoyance. "Sure thing. It will be nice to eat something other than boxed pasta," he flipped Elena's hair as he walked past her and headed for the kitchen.

"I thought you liked my boxed pasta," Elena chased after him as everyone laughed.

* * *

_"Elena," Caroline ran and wrapped her arms around her best friend. "I can't believe you guys came!" _

_"Like I would miss my best friend's wedding," Elena told her. "Besides, a girl can't get married without a maid of honor," she giggled and made her way into the Lockwood mansion. After Klaus had allowed Tyler to come back he had moved in with Matt as they navigated college and all the new experiences that came along with it. Five years later, Matt had moved into his own place and Caroline had moved in with her fiance as they began their new life. _

_Damon walked up with their luggage and was escorted to their room; Caroline wanted Elena as close as possible during the last two weeks before the wedding. It was nice to have someone who would help her with her planning and make sure it was the perfect wedding she had always dreamed of. _

_"So," Damon put their suitcases down and allowed blondie to escort him and Elena to the dining room for coffee, "when did you and Lockwood decide to enter matrimonial bliss?"_

_"I mean, it's been five years," she gushed; excited to talk to people who understood her relationship and why this was so important to her. "Five years of being together without any life and death consequences or people trying to tear us apart. Put aside the make ups and the break ups, and the teenage angst, and we've realized how important it is to try and live as normal a life as possible."_

_"You know, without worrying about the legalities of marrying a dead person," Damon's bright blue eyes popped as he made fun of her. _

_"No one knows that," she defended herself with a feisty laugh. "I mean, as far as the government is concerned we're young, living adults with promising futures ahead of us. There's no need to fake our birth certificates and there are no official death certificates to keep us down. Tyler's my family and we just want to make it official since we don't have a lot of family between us. And it will be so nice for my mom," she reached over and clasped Elena's hand in hers. "A reason for us all the celebrate." _

_"Well," Elena smiled, "I can't wait to get in my bridesmaids dress. At least I know Caroline Forbes doesn't believe in ugly bridesmaids."_

* * *

The Salvatore brothers laughed and joked as they cooked, the kitchen finally getting more use since the death of all their close friends; even if some of them were still sitting in the room with them. Matt helped by fixing the cocktails.

The girls let them do what they do as Denny turned away from Matt's piercing stare, trying to ignore the growing intimacy between them. She hadn't meant to unload on him, in fact, she hadn't meant to unload at all. There was an attraction between them she wouldn't mind exploiting but their conversation earlier had pushed the envelope and that wasn't something she was looking for.

As the sixteen year old remained in her own thoughts, only passively listening to her cousins and new friends, she was woken by the sound of a doorbell. Getting up, she left the friends to get reacquainted as she welcomed their new guest; leading them to all the activity.

"Bonnie," Jeremy was confused and shocked.

The witch turned to him and smiled weakly. "Hi, Jeremy."


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: here's more!**

* * *

Caroline crossed the threshold, making her way out to her porch and down the steps until she was in full view of the moon. It was their promise to each other no matter where they were; together or separated, that they loved one another and waited until they could be united once more. Whenever one of them was staring at it they knew their partner was too. At least they had.

Five years had passed since the last time she had known Tyler was staring at the moon too. It was the night before their wedding and in typical Caroline fashion, she had wanted a traditional wedding which meant not seeing each other for twenty-four hours before the ceremony. Elena had escorted her to the Salvatore Boarding house for what would be their last ever slumber party. That was when it happened. That was when he showed up.

_Caroline couldn't sleep; the anticipation was too much. She opened the window to feel the breeze and catch a glimpse of the moon which held so much power over her life just as a pebble was being thrown, hitting her in the chest and she looked down expecting to see Tyler. _

_"Klaus," she was shocked to see him. Ever since his little coup d'etat in New Orleans and the birth of his child Klaus had stayed away from Mystic Falls as he continued to reclaim the city and his title as King. __Speeding down the hallway, Caroline met him on the side of the building and stopped just two feet from him before composing herself. "What are you doing here?"_

_"I heard about the upcoming wedding," the hybrid replied. "A bit of a sham though, isn't it? Considering you're dead," he reminded her. _

_"Being dead hasn't stopped you from being a father," Caroline hissed. "Why should I allow it to keep me from marrying the love of my life?"_

_"Come, now. We both know there's no truth to that," Klaus shoved his hands into his coat pockets. "Why not release him? You'll only hurt him more when you finally admit your true feelings to yourself."_

_The blush rose in her cheeks as she blustered, "Tr-true," she paused, "feelings! Are you crazy or just plain stupid? I've been in love with Tyler for almost a decade, Klaus," her voice finally softened. "We've waited for tomorrow for years and when I walk down the aisle tomorrow and take his hand, I'm going to promise to love him until the day I meet my final death. _

_"I've waited seven years to be with him without any threats to keep us apart."_

_"I _told_ you I would wait for you," Klaus reminded her; the distance in between them did nothing to eliminate her need to be near him. "No matter what happens in my life or who comes into it or leaves it, I will _continue_ to wait for you. You are the woman I want to love for the rest of my life, Caroline."_

_Tears ran down her face as she sobbed and turned away from him. Heightened emotions had her laughing maniacally as unleashed anger tormented her. "That's your problem, Klaus," the blonde talked with her hands flailing every which way. "That's what has _always_ been your problem! You want to love someone and you want to be loved. First it was Tatia and now it's me," she pounded her palm to her chest, "but the problem is that you don't actually _know_ how to love anyone! All those years ago I thought I was finally getting to see the real you. The little boy who was abused and traumatized by his parents, who lashed out and tried to control everyone in his life so he would never have to feel that way again. __I know something changed in you when we met," she stepped back as he moved towards her. "You met someone who you felt more for than yourself. You relinquished control as much as you could, and I was pulled to you too," Caroline hit the wall of the building behind her and her face turned into Klaus's palm; he was pressing up against her and trying to stare into her eyes, which Caroline cast away in an attempt to remain strong._

_"I would relinquish everything within my power to you," Klaus confessed, "if only I knew how you felt about me."_

_Caroline looked into his eyes, tormented by the hold he had over her and how it constantly jeopardized the love she had for Tyler and the life she held so dear in Mystic Falls. "One day, you will meet someone who loves you as much," she admitted, "or more, than I do. Hopefully you will be able to return that love," her voice began to break. "And I pray when that day comes; when you find her, that she will be yours and yours alone," the sobbing continued to wrack through her body as she forced herself to do something she hadn't been able to do for the past five years. "Because I _will always_ love Tyler more than you. I _will always choose_ Tyler over you. And the only future I have is with Tyler, and not with you," she cried and watched his entire face contort with pain; knowing he felt exactly like she did in that moment._

_Wind brushed past her and she collapsed against the building; unleashing her voice as she screamed and cursed at the man who had destroyed her perfect love and small town life. Klaus was gone._

_But Tyler was there. _

"And then he wasn't," she whispered to herself. She stared at the moon and wished there was someway to change the past; to go back to that night and change her mind about being a traditional bride. Caroline would have snuck away earlier to live one more day in sin with her fiance before they were officially the old married couple of the group, because at least then they would have been married.

* * *

Bonnie and Jeremy had yet to say two words to one another, separated by fear and friends. Caroline had left right after dinner to go find her mom and fill her in while Elena and the Halliwells were busy getting Bonnie into clothes that were actually relevant to this decade.

Matt and the boys had congregated in the kitchen in the meantime and when Jeremy followed in a daze, his friend and business partner had poured him a glass of scotch. The youngest Gilbert didn't even realize that he never managed to empty his glass, whether courtesy of Matt, Stefan or Damon. Standing across the room from her as the Halliwells gave their farewells for the night, Jeremy couldn't stop staring at his late girlfriend; unfortunately one of many and his heart ached because he knew eventually he would lose her again.

The pats on his back as Stefan and Damon retired for the night barely registered in his mind until she was the only other person in the room with him. "Hello, Jeremy. I've missed you," she spoke and waited for some sign that he had heard her.

"I missed you, too," he barely spoke and took a step towards her, holding out a hand. Bonnie took it and their fingers intertwined. "Why did you have to die," he cried and the witch immediately embraced him; comforting him as he finally broke down. "Why does everyone I love have to die?"


	16. Chapter 16

Chris waited for his informant in a dark abandoned alley just like he did every time. He had been waiting a very long time to meet with this newest contact and wouldn't involve Wyatt or the rest of the family until he had something concrete to go off of.

* * *

Bonnie had spent her first night back among the living with Jeremy and although there was nothing that would heal the wounds from all of his losses, Bonnie hoped that they would now be easier to bare. Her next task was handling Caroline.

Breakfast had gone well and the Halliwells were getting ready to go back to their motel and get their things; it would be easier for them to work from Mystic Falls and that meant they would be moving into the abandoned Witches house. Bonnie approached Payton and Phyl as Denny made a phone call to check in with her mother.

"No, mom. Everything is fine," Denny plugged her other ear with a finger, trying to drown all the chatter from the dining room and got up to move outside for some privacy.

"I was wondering," Bonnie started. "I've been dead for a long time and if I were to be spotted around town things could get weird. Is their anything you could do to help so I can actually leave this house every once and a while? Maybe orbing me where I need to go or maybe a cloaking spell?"

"Why not just glamour," Phyl asked.

"What's glamour?" Bonnie was confused and the sisters looked at each other and smiled. "Sometimes," Payton said, "we forget that you were never formally trained. Glamour," she went on to explain, "is magic that kind of casts an illusion over your appearance. Unless of course you're seen by someone who can see through it but they would probably have to have second sight like Phyl or be extremely magically gifted."

"So you can change how we're seen," Bonnie was intrigued. "How does it work?"

The twins shared a mischievous smirk before snapping their fingers. All of a sudden, Bonnie walked over to a hung mirror and took in her appearance. No one would recognize her for sure, as her long brown hair had been transformed into red flowing waves, her skin now reflected a porcelain complexion with tiny burst of stardust freckles just over the bridge of her nose; underneath bright green pools and was the most shocked at the color of her eyes. Yes, her eyes had been naturally green but they had been a soft jade color but now they were bright and vibrant; at first glance she had been relieved to have some part of her appearance remain the same but it had only taken a second to see that there was no part of her that was recognizable.

"_Ugh_, next time one of _you_ gets to make the check in phone call," Denny announced as she threw herself down into a seat. Looking up, Denny immediately sat forward, ready to pounce. "Who the _hell_ are you?"

Payton stifled her laughter as Phyl just let hers loose. "It's me," the currently undead witch spoke. "Bonnie. Your cousins put a glamour on me so I can move around town without being noticed."

"Oh," Denny leaned back and put her legs up on the chair directly across from her. "Okay. Well anyway, my mom completely freaked out about the darklighter attack so Aunt Paige must have snitched. Thanks," the sarcasm rolled off her tongue as she looked to her cousins.

"Like _we_ can help the fact that our mom can't keep a secret to save her life," Phyl complained and Denny managed to stare her down and do her famous eye roll simultaneously. "Besides, if you didn't rat us out to our mom then your mom never would have known," the psychic said.

"Yeah, well the longer we keep the aunts out of this the better our chances of them not finding out about my plan; so from now on we only tell them about the great time we're having exploring our history and other facets of our training. I don't want to risk my mom coming here and dragging me back to that house."

* * *

"Something is going on; I can feel it in my bones," Phoebe talked as Piper prepared dinner and Paige sat at the table shopping for shoes on the internet. "Can't you sense it," she asked her sisters as they waited for their husbands and children to arrive for their weekly dinner. It was still so odd to her that Denny and the twins weren't here. It was only a week ago that the three girls had gotten into Piper's SUV and started driving across the country.

"You worry too much," Paige put down her iPad and tried to sneak a cookie from the cooling rack, receiving a well deserved slap on the hand from Piper's wooden spoon. Shaking it off, she took the cookie anyway and popped it in her mouth. "You just talked to Denny and if anything were really wrong they'd tell us. They're teenagers, not complete idiots."

"Besides," Piper added, "we need to loosen the reigns sooner or later. The girls are old enough to take care of their own share of magically induced problems. What are you going to do when Denny moves out of the house, put nanny cameras in her new place?"

"Why would Denny move out," Phoebe asked and her sisters shared a look she knew she wasn't suppose to see. "What aren't you guys telling me?"

"Pheebs," Piper put down her cooking utensils to focus on the conversation, "Denny is a young woman with goals and dreams, and I'm sorry Phoebe but they're not here in California. Not right now. Patience is turning thirteen and still has to get through high school and Purity is ten. It's like the perfect age difference to let Denny and Patty experience a normal mortal life and you're painting them into a corner."

"They're charmed, Piper. You know as well as I do that their bond and their safety depends on the girls being close by one another," Phoebe pointed out.

"And what kind of bond do you think your almost adult daughter and tween have right now? Let alone adding Purity into the mix because _we all know_ how much a child and a young adult have in _common_," Piper raised her voice in exasperation.

"Do you remember what my relationship with Prue was like when we first became witches," Phoebe reminded her older sister. "We could barely be in the same room let alone talk to one another. We're lucky we didn't get killed when we faced our first warlock."

"We also grew up without our powers," Piper replied. "You're girls stand a far better chance then we did. Why not let your girls have a normal life while they can? It's not like they're fighting demons together anyway and besides, that's what they have a mother for."

Phoebe stood there, shocked. Her eyes narrowed, rimming with tears as she she looked first at Piper and then Paige; waiting for her younger sister to defend her. She never did.

"You've got to be kidding me," Phoebe cried. "You're basically accusing me of being a bad mother," she yelled.

"Phoebe," Paige stood up and tried to comfort her but the middle sister backed away from her touch, "we all know the girls are the most important people in your life, but we'd be lying if we didn't tell you that you are pushing your eldest daughter away. You're doing to her what you and Piper told me Grams did to Prue. All the regrets she had, the things she waited too long to do; do you really want that for your daughter?"

Grabbing her bag, Phoebe stormed out of the Manor, leaving her sisters alone and speechless.

* * *

"Did you have to pick the fight with her right now," Paige asked. It had been over a half hour ago when Phoebe just up and left. "You couldn't have waited until Coop was here or better yet, not bring it up at all? Is this really any of our business?"

"Oh please, like you haven't been pestering me about Denny for months now. We've all seen what's happening in that household and we all know exactly how it's going to end; with Denny taking off without a word and cutting us all out of her life. And for what; for Phoebe to have a permanent babysitter on call?"

The sisters kept yelling as Leo and Coop walked through the back door, immediately halting their laughter as they saw the looks on Piper's and Paige's faces. "Where's Phoebe," Coop asked and saw Paige try to shrink into the background as Piper pasted a reserved expression on her face. He knew something was wrong.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N:** sorry it's been so long. I started grad school so I won't be having a lot of time to update but I will try. please R&R

* * *

Bonnie looked around her surroundings.

Children were running in the square, as Mystic Fall residents were naively enjoying what they thought was small town life. What problems could they ever have here?

Looking down, she stared at the creamy complexion of her hands. This wasn't anything she had ever thought would happen; being alive and walking through her deceptively peaceful hometown. Nothing bad _ever _happened in Mystic Falls.

And no one even knew she was there. It was like her worse dream; calling for help among your friends when you know that no one can see you or hear you. She was just thankful for her childhood friends. Bonnie knew that being hear even in disguise was better than watching from the other side.

The witch had missed so many things. Even though she had tagged along in spirit and experienced everything right there besides them, Caroline and Elena hadn't known she was there with them. They hadn't even known she was dead. It wasn't the same for them as it had been for her and she knew this was her chance to make up for all of her bad decisions. Keeping her death a secret, making Jeremy lie to everybody had been the cowardly thing to do but Bonnie was going to make sure she made up for everything she had done.

The bell rang as she crossed the threshold and she smiled as she saw Jeremy behind the bar. She was going to fix all of her mistakes and the witch was going to start here.

* * *

Chris approached everything the same way; he was a police officer for a reason. Uncle Henry had certainly been an inspiration but it was something that just came naturally to him; the way interrogating demons and doing undercover work in the underworld came naturally to him. He was who he was. He was a Halliwell.

Rumors of her had been stirring for a long time; the human who had once been a vampire; a girl whose very being was inherently magical just like his. Katarina Petrova came from magic, was born of magic and had died and been reborn by it when her doppelganger had forced the only vial of the cure down her throat.

Katarina had lived in isolation ever since. Nowhere was safe for her.

Yet the woman was every bit as manipulative as a human as she had been as a vampire; keeping tabs on all of her contacts without anyone knowing about it and that's what made her useful to Chris. Katarina Petrova knew a lot of people.

Waiting for her, he let out a frustrated breath. She was running late and if she had decided to stand him up than she was in for a world of hurt. Chris didn't like to be left waiting and he had multiple ways of tracking people down.

Just as he was about to go he saw a young woman walk down the alley in four inch black suede ankle boots, skinny jeans and a black motorcycle jacket. Her hair was dramatically draped to hang across the side of her face and the first thing Chris noticed was how her eyes sparkled with mischief.

Suddenly he knew he was in trouble. Mischief was his favorite attribute in a woman.

* * *

Bonnie had turned around and left as soon as she realized what she had to do. Sitting down in the dirt, Bonnie drew her two hands together and cupped the soil from his previous internment. One of the things she had realized in her time among the witches was that if she wanted to use her magic she needed to make sure that she stayed connected to the earth. Bonnie had lacked the discipline that was necessary to use her craft wisely when she ignored nature's hold over her.

"Earth; mother of our flesh and bones, I beseech you. True love that binds these lovers' hearts, let their paths be unobscured; let the fire of burning desire flame among their flesh, until lips to lips the curse of loneliness is broken. So I say, so mote it be."

She threw the dirt into a small fire she had started and let it die down of its own accord. Bonnie would make sure that her only love would find happiness before the Halliwell's hold on her was relinquished.

His peace would be her peace.

* * *

Rebekah loved her niece. Regina was the loveliest creature she had ever known and became gladder with each moment that Elijah had convinced her to join them; to be a family again.

But that was ten years ago, and though her love for her niece only grew stronger, so did her yearning for a life of her own. Where were her children? The seeds of their life were locked within her womb where they would remain forever. There would be no children for her and she had accepted that ten years ago when the Petrova bitch had been given the cure.

She'd had the little leech cornered almost four years ago in New York and had nearly succeeded in ripping her head clean off but Katherine had created a distraction and had managed to escape into a crowd. Even as a human she was resourceful.

Though Rebekah knew she would continue to glory in seeing Regina grow into a beautiful young woman, the blonde wished that Nicklaus would accept the love his daughter offered. It seemed he was only capable of giving and not receiving, though that was obviously not the case with the witches.

As sister to the king she helped enforce his laws in his territories but it made life a little hectic for herself. How could the blonde lead her own life if she was always looking after his?

Sitting on the pink satin sheets, Rebekah placed her nieces favorite teddy bear in the crook of Regina's arm and kissed her on her crown. The young girl had inherited Hayley's chocolate curls but Niklaus's complexion and eyes.

"Happy birthday, little Queen," Rebekah pulled the covers up over her tightly. The ten year old was tuckered out from her party earlier that evening.

Elijah and Niklaus were entering the front doors and when she heard them she walked over to Regina's closet, grabbing a black duffle and staying long enough only to place two envelopes on Regina's nightstand. In beautiful calligraphy she had written out each of her brother's names.

Rebekah made her escape from her niece's balcony and didn't look back.


	18. Chapter 18

Sobbing echoed down the halls of the Mikaelson mansion; heart wrenching cries that alerted the two remaining original brothers. They had been enjoying a drink in the study, recalling their most precious moments with Niklaus's beautiful daughter when they heard that first curdling wail.

Elijah had made it to the stairs first but Klaus had grabbed a firm hold on his dress shirt and yanked, ripping him out of the way as he sped to his daughter. Hayley was already holding her when the double doors to Regina's room were thrown open.

"Papa!" Regina threw herself into her father's arms and he pressed a hand into her crown, holding her head tightly against his stomach as he stopped slightly to get a hold of her.

"What's happened," Klaus demanded and looked to Hayley for answers.

"It seems your sister has taken an absence from New Orleans. She left you and Elijah letters to explain," the wolf handed the brothers their notes and watched Elijah tear into his; Klaus just rocked his daughter until he decided to lift her up into his arms and soothe her.

"Why must Aunt Bekah leave us," Regina asked in between sobs. "Are we not enough?"

Surprise and hurt for his daughter as well as the anger toward his sisters were readily displayed on the hybrid's face and Hayley moved so that her daughter could see her face. "Honey, you know how much Aunt Bekah loves you," Hayley admonished her. "She'll be back again, but you'll see as you grow older that you'll want to go out on your own and see the world; meet new people. You might even want to have a family of your own," Hayley shot Klaus a look when he growled at her before turning back to their daughter. "It doesn't mean she loves us any less. It just means we're going to get very nice presents the next time we see her," she gave a goofy smile and Regina begged out of Klaus's grip.

"Are you ready to go to bed, little princess?" Klaus tucked her in and kneeled on the floor.

"Daddy, where has Aunt Bekah gone? Will she be safe without you to protect her," Regina asked, still worried about her Aunt's welfare.

"I don't know but I'm sure we'll hear from her soon. Don't you worry about your Aunt Bekah; she can take care of herself," he told his daughter and kissed her good night.

Shutting the doors behind him, he came face to face with his brother and Hayley. "When I find the little strumpet I'm going to string her up like a Christmas goose," he hissed.

"Daddy," Regina chastised from the other side of the door and Klaus had the good grace to blush. He often forgot about his daughter's abilities. Moving downstairs to the study, Hayley bid them goodnight and retired to her room.

"Where do you suppose she's gone," Elijah asked.

"Where ever it is won't be far enough to keep me from putting a dagger in her heart. Did you see what she's done to my daughter?"

"Hush now, Klaus. Regina will be fine but I doubt she'd forgive you for hurting her favorite person.

"Don't you think it's time you finally allowed our sister to have her own life? Rebekah has a large heart that you have been constricting for too long. If you apply anymore pressure you will blow out her carotid artery and we will lose our sister."

"You know as well as I do that Bekah's biggest enemy in love is herself."

"It certainly doesn't help that anytime she's tried to be independent you have killed whoever she cares for at that point in time. It's been ten years of peace among us, Niklaus. We have watched and aided you in building and protecting your family. When will you allow us to do the same for ourselves?"

Klaus turned to stare at his brother. "Why," he grilled, "are you thinking of settling down now brother?"

"At the end of the day, what is immortality worth if it's not to spend it with the person you love?"

"And who exactly is it that you think you love," Klaus implored. "Katarina? It's been ten years so at least the age gap has closed a bit, not that you can have eternity with her like you once hoped. We both know that if you were to try to turn her that the cure would stop her from returning as a vampire."

"Katarina is not who I had in mind," Elijah swirled his drink. "I don't know who might love me but I'd like to be given the opportunity to share my life with more than just my brother and sister."

"Love is overrated," his brother told him.

"Is that why you're still waiting for Caroline to come to you," Elijah rebutted. "What happened when you went after her five years ago?"

"I've finally come to the realization that I was mistaken when I thought I could love her. I was just looking for a reason to care about my miserable life back then. I know better now. "

"Then why not move on? You have a daughter you love and a woman who has remained by your side for a decade; working with you and taking your side on every matter we've ever argued over."

"You mean for me to love the one I'm with, but guess what brother. I'm not with anyone. We have a common interest and over the years we've become friends. Nothing more."

Elijah heard the footsteps in the hallway and realized that his brother was as oblivious to them as he was to Hayley's feelings. "She trusts you above all others and yet you still doubt—"

"—doubt what," he downed his drink and stared at his brother.

"You doubt that anyone could love you; that you are worthy of love, but look around you Niklaus. You have two siblings who have stood by your side for the majority of a millennia, a daughter who loves you more than anyone else in the world and a woman who would kill to protect you. Even if you don't think you're worthy of it, how can you deny that you are loved?"

"If you're so concerned with romantic notions, why don't you go search the world for that woman you seem so sure has been built just to love you," Klaus seethed. "By all means, I could use another sister who might appreciate all I've done for this family."

Elijah stared at his brother before putting his glass down. "Don't mind if I do." He walked away from his brother and left the next morning after saying goodbye to his niece.


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N:** okay, so we will be seeing the other side of the conflict a lot more often as the time comes closer for them to interact. A month has passed since the last chapter and we might see more time pass in between chapters. please read and review.

* * *

Rebekah started the ignition and drove off with the top down and her hair flowing in the wind. God, she loved convertibles.

In the weeks since she had left New Orleans she had talked with Hayley at least once a weak; just because she had wanted to take some time for herself didn't mean she didn't want to check in on her best friend and niece. They were two reasons she was glad she had finally given Klaus another chance when she had thought he was unsalvageable. He had caused her so much hurt over her thousand years, killing any man who might dare take her away from him, but he could never take Hayley and Regina from her; no one ever could.

In between driving and calling, Rebekah had taken the time to write to Matt. God, how she missed that boy though of course he was a man now. Smiling, she got off at her exit and thought of their time in Europe. It was an experience she would never forget; Matt had given her the opportunity to be a true friend and she had given him the opportunity to see more than his little corner of the world. They would love each other forever for that, even if they weren't soul mates.

Rebekah had thought about visiting but didn't want to go someplace where her brother could easily find her and drag her back to NOLA. She needed this time apart to really think about what it was she needed to take out of this life. There could never be any children; her brother had proven that she couldn't protect the men she loved from him so long term relationships were out. All that left was herself; what would she do with herself to finally find some semblance of inner peace?

That was why she was here in California, checking out her old stomping grounds of the late 19th century before she had been staked in the 1920s and put into a ninety year slumber. She hadn't been here since then; this is where she came to lick her wounds after Marcel's betrayal. She had picked herself up by her bootstraps and found some way to be a strong and fierce woman and that was exactly what she needed now.

Who was Rebekah Mikaelson but the love sick girl with low self-esteem? The blonde didn't know if there was anything under that layer, but she knew if she had to that she would build from scratch. There had to be more to life than this all consuming desperation.

* * *

Klaus downed his drink as he watched Regina playing outside. Hayley saw him there by the window and knocked on the open door. Not that it was possible, but she didn't want to find out what would happen to someone who snuck up on the original hybrid.

"You want to tell me why you're in here instead of outside with your daughter?"

"What would I know of playing with a ten year old," he demanded. "What good am I for her?"

"Oh," Hayley drew out the vowel and pursed her lips together. "So that's it; you're isolating yourself from the one person in the world who loves you unconditionally because you're moping after your brother and sister."

"I don't mope," Klaus seethed.

"You're doing a great impression from what I can see," every word rolled off her tongue slowly and with a mocking attribute. "It's not like you're their father. They have the right to come and go as they please; to do as they please. Why not focus your attention on the one who really needs it?"

Klaus filled his glass and downed it again before smiling menacingly. "Why not mind your own business, love?"

Hayley scoffed before turning to leave, quickly changing her mind and facing off against him one last time. "There's only so much time left before she stops idolizing you and sees you for what you are; a sad, lonely little man who is so afraid of rejection that you never let yourself love. How do you think she's going to feel when she realizes that she's not the exception? That you would rather run her off like you did all the others? Because she might be a hybrid too, but that doesn't mean she's going to choose to turn one day.

"How are you going to feel when she's gone from this world and you never did right by her before it was too late," the wolf questioned him before leaving to attend to their daughter.

"I'm not worthy of her love," Klaus whispered as he saw the blinding happiness reflected in his daughter's smile as Hayley chased her around the yard. "I never have been."

* * *

Stefan rolled over Phyl and bound her hands, kissing her up the side of her neck; lingering on her nape as she giggled in hysterical fits. "Uncle! Uncle," she cried and tried to beg out of his hold. The past month had really given the two some time to get to know each other.

When Stefan refused to let her up the witch did the only thing she could think of an orbed across the room, coalescing at his desk where she swiveled back and forth in his cushy chair. "Hey, this is really nice," the blonde got distracted.

Stefan narrowed his eyes and vamp sped over to her, surprised to find the chair empty and to see Phyl leaning in the door way. He growled and launched himself at her, frustrated when he found her gone in less than the blink of an eye.

"Down here," she called and Stefan ran down the stairs to see her helping her sister and cousin with their things. Over the past four weeks Caroline had tracked down the property deeds and had found that the land and house had been entrusted to the Warren line. There had been considerable wealth to the trust at one point but years of property taxes and living without tenants had nearly drained the accounts. Denny had checked in with her mother and aunts, letting them "know" about the family history she had uncovered in Virginia so far. Learning about the property had convinced Piper to take care of the paperwork for the property though she hadn't known the real reason why the girls wanted to claim the house. Now that the paperwork had cleared the girls were getting ready to move into the mansion and settle in.

"Chicken," he accused her with a sparkle in his eye and Phyl ducked her face down to her chest with a mischievous smile. "Maybe," she replied, "but we really need to get these things over to the house and set up. See you there," Phyl said and orbed out with a stack of boxes.

"I hate it when she does that."

"Just wait until she's been doing it for another seventeen years," Payton sympathized. "It's a pain."

"Well, I'm off too," Denny said. "See you guys for dinner," and the witch-cupid hybrid blazed out with her own share of boxes.

"Nope, still jealous," the vampire said more to himself as Payton laughed.

"That probably won't change soon. Just wait until she gets a new power," Pay advised.

"What? You guys get new powers," he griped and Pay just laughed and waved as she orbed out with the rest of the stuff. "Cool, but so unfair," the vampire with great hair griped and then decided to go hunt before dinner. He had never seen any of those girls cook and he really didn't want to go through dinner hungry.


	20. Chapter 20

"Wow," Elena and Caroline spun in circles as they took in the beauty of the Cutler Mansion.

"How is this possible," the blonde demanded. "I was here hours ago to help you guys unpack and this place was still a dump."

"It's called magic, my dear," Phyl handed her a glass of wine laced with blood. "It's an illusion, just until the Aunts figure out the budget for renovating it. You should see the bedrooms," she added. "I totally could have lived in colonial days or the revolutionary and civil war eras."

"Talk about glam," Payton interjected as she came from an undisclosed location. Elena and Caroline still got the two confused though they had learned ways to tell them apart; Payton wore her hair past her shoulders in straight layers that curled softly at the ends and her eyes were just a tad more chocolate brown while Phyl's eyes had a touch of gold right in the center and wore her hear in loose waves.

"How long do you think it will be before we're prepared to take Klaus on," Elena asked and saw her best friend tense up.

"Bonnie is working on that right now," Payton told them. "She's doing some recon down in Tennessee and Alabama; seeing if she can recruit any of the covens to our cause."

"The closer she gets to New Orleans the less I like this plan," Caroline said just as the boys came to join them in the foyer.

"Denny said to tell you dinner is ready," Jeremy told the girls and let the twins show them to the dining room.

* * *

"I have got to say, I was a little nervous about how the food was going to turn out but it's delicious," Stefan told the Halliwells.

"You never have to worry about the quality of Halliwell meals unless it's my mom, Aunt Phoebe or Hank cooking. Aunt Piper taught the rest of us how to cook," Phyl told her boyfriend. "It's really nice to have a chef in the family," she pondered and drank more of the wine the Salvatores had brought over.

"I was gonna say," Damon engaged in the conversation, "that it's a rare occasion when someone can make Italian food better than us Salvatore brothers," and lifted his glass to toast with his brother.

"That's all Denny," Payton said. "Aunt Piper had the worse time trying to teach her how to cook but my cousin is a perfectionist. You have no idea how bad it was when Aunt Piper found her kitchen destroyed but a perfect display of six dozen macaroons elegantly showcased."

"If someone made me macaroons I could care less about a ruined kitchen," Elena said.

"It wasn't the kitchen that made Aunt Piper mad, it was the fact that Denny's macaroons were better than hers," Phyl said.

"What can I say," Denny gloated. "The things I'm bad at are few and far between; if I can do anything to make myself capable then I will."

"And modest to boot," Matt joked and they all laughed until they heard a large thump come from behind him.

The witches immediately ran over to find a man lying on their floor. "No," Denny threw a hand out to prevent the twins from coming closer. She knelt down and lifted the injured man's head into her lap.

"What the hell is going on," Damon asked.

Denny wrapped her hands around the arrow that was protruding from his chest and pulled, causing him to yell in pain. "Get rid of this," she told Jeremy and let her cousins take their places on opposite sides of the stranger.

"Go ahead," she told them and the sisters held their hands out over his form, a bright golden hue emanating from their hands as the whole in his chest closed and the sweat disappeared from his brown.

Shooting up, he looked around the room until his eyes returned to the three cousins. "_What_ have you three gotten yourselves into," his voice bellowed and for the first time ever their guests watched the Halliwell cousins look their age; teenaged and in trouble.

* * *

"I'm sorry, who are you," Damon demanded.

"Chris Halliwell," the whitelighter glared at the vampire. "I still can't believe you're dumb enough to be working with vampires!"

"Oh, my god," Denny yelled back, "like you never work with demons!"

"That's different," he argued.

"How?"

"Because I don't hide what I do from the family," he shot back. "Phoebe is going to kill you and Paige is going to help her burry the bodies!"

"Bodies? What bodies," Phyl asked.

"Ours, nitwit." Payton was exhausted from all the fighting and threw herself back onto the couch. "This is not how I wanted to spend my night," she rubbed her temples, feeling the migraine coming on.

"Wait," Stefan looked at Chris, "why did you orb to Mystic Falls if you have family in California who could have healed you?"

Heads turned and Chris raised his brows as he thought about that. "Um, so…funny story," he began when his cousins assaulted him.

"You're kidding me, right? You're yelling at us and you're keeping your own secrets in the meantime," Phyl jumped down his neck.

"You and me," Chris said to Stefan, "we're gonna have issues. Just wait 'til I tell her parents she's dating a vampire."

"You wouldn't dare," Phyl screamed.

"You know how Aunt Paige hates vampires," Chris reminded her, as if to say 'try me'.

"Can I kill him for you," Damon asked his brother and Elena smacked him on his shoulder.

"What are you doing here," Payton stood up and came face to face with her cousin. Denny might have been the loudest spoken one in the family but Payton was the one who would go toe to toe with just about anyone.

"I've been working on taking out Klaus; I think you've heard of him," he sighed. "Anyway, one of my contacts brought me out here and we got into a bit of a scuffle. I lost her in the fight; don't know where she ran off too but I should be able to sense her whereabouts. You guys were the closest healers to me."

"And do the aunts know," Payton asked.

"No," he said as the other girls started yelling at him again, "but the elders put me on the case. They've been recruiting more whitelighters and sending them out here to try and protect the witches."

"So it's not just us," Payton asked. "Why didn't the elders tell us about this?"

"They wanted to get you out here before the Aunts found out and tried to stop you guys from taking this on. Besides, who do you think convinced them to let you go on your little road trip?"

"_You _did that? Why," Denny asked.

"The elders asked me to. They wanted you guys to come out here and start prepping while I continued to get some intelligence. I would have stayed out there but some crazy bitch vampire apparently knew my charge and attacked when she saw us. I orbed us out but Katherine thought it would be better to be on opposite sides of the country for now."

"Wait," Elena held out a hand to pause their conversation, "your charge is Katherine?"

And a hush went over the crowd…


End file.
